^ 


I  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY,  | 


Princeton,  N.  J. 


J"— 3  ^ 


BV  812  .W87 
Wood,  James. 

A  familiar  treatise  on 

Christian  baptism 


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FAMILIAR  TREATISE 


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CHRISTIAN    BAPTISM, 


ILLUSTRATED  AVITH  ENGRAVINGS, 


DESIGNED  FOR  YOUNG   CHRISTIANS  AND    BAPTIZED    CHILDREN, 


BY  JAMES  WOOD.  D.  D. 


PROFESSOR    IN    NEW    ALBANY    THEOLOGICAL    SEMINAKY,    INI», 


NEW  ALBANY: 
JOHN  B.  ANDERSON,  PUBLISHER. 

1850. 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  Clerk's  office  of  the 
District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the  District  of  Indiana,  bj 
JAMES  WOOD,  D.  D.,  in  the  year  1850. 


KENT    &    NOR MAX, 


INTRODUCTORY   REMARKS 


The  following  treatise  is  not  designed  for  the  learn- 
ed.  The  reader  therefore  need  not  expect  to  find 
any  attempt  at  learned  criticism.  The  first  part,  ex- 
cept a  few  additions  now  made,  was  published  sev- 
enteen years  ago,  and  addressed  to  a  young  convert, 
one  of  the  author's  pastoral  charge,  for  whose  spe- 
cial benefit  it  was  \ATitten.  I  prepared  it,  as  I  then 
said  in  an  introductory  note,  "  not  because  there  are 
no  works  on  the  subject  which  I  for  the  most  part 
approve,  nor  because  I  consider  myself  capable  of 
writing  with  greater,  or  even  equal  ability  with  many 
whose  \mtings  are  before  the  public ;  but  because 
most  of  the  works  on  this  subject  are  either  too 
long,  are  written  with  too  much  acrimony,  or  are  not 
sufficiently  simple  for  common  readers." 

I  am  induced  to  publish  another  edition  of  part 
first,  together  witli  a  second  part,  of  which  I  had 
given  some  intimation  in  my  introduction  to  Part  L, 
by  a  communication  recently  received  from  a  val- 
uable friend  and  a  prominent,  influential  pastor,  who 
after  requesting  me  to  publish  or  allow  him  to  pub- 
lish a  new  edition  of  Part  I.,  and  also  to  publish  Part 
II.,  writes  as  follows :  "  There  can  be  no  doubt  of 


your  duty  to  bring  out  the  whole  of  this  matter, 
Your  Part  I.  is  of  more  practical  value  to  me  than 
any  other  treatise."  Were  I  at  liberty  to  mention 
the  name  of  the  writer,  it  would  add  weight  to  the 
opinion  here  expressed,  and  be  regarded  as  a  suffi- 
cient reason  why  a  request  coming  to  me  from  such 
a  source,  and  urged  by  such  a  reason  ought  not  to 
be  disregarded.  I  shall  also  add  a  3d  Part  on  the 
importance  of  christian  baptism.  Besides  the  hope 
that  it  may  be  useful  to  young  converts  who  may 
desire  to  peruse  a  brief  and  plain  treatise  on  this 
subject,  it  has  occurred  to  me,  especially  while  pre- 
paring the  second  and  third  part,  that  it  may  per- 
haps be  used  with  advantage  by  christian  parents  in 
instructing  the  youthful  members  of  their  families, 
who  ought  to  be  made  acquainted  in  early  life  with 
the  teachings  of  scripture  in  reference  to  this  ordi- 
nance, and  particularly  with  the  nature  of  their  re- 
lation to  the  chm*ch  as  baptized  children,  and  the 
solemn  obligation  thereby  devolving  upon  them  to  de- 
vote themselves  to  the  service  of  Christ. 

To  every  one  who  may  be  disposed  to  give  it  a 
perusal,  I  would  respectfully  say  let  the  scripture 
proofs  and  the  reasoning  connected  with  them,  be 
examined  with  due  attention  and  candor.  And 
whatever  may  be  the  conclusion  at  which  you  arrive, 
do  not  indulge  an  uncharitable  or  censorious  spirit 
toward  those  who  differ  from  jou.  One  of  the 
brightest  ornaments  of  the  christian  is  charity;  which 
though  it  is  perfectly  consistent  with  a  firm  adhe- 
rence to  what  we  deem  to  be  truth,  is  nevertheless 


so  expansive  in  its  influence,  that  it  overleaps  the 
boundaries  of  sectarian  prejudice,  and  extends  the 
hand  of  fellowship  to  the  whole  family  ol  true  dis- 
ciples. 


PART  I. 

WHAT    IS    THE    SCRIPTURAL    MODE     OF    ADMINISTERING    THE 
ORDINANCE    OF    BAPTISM. 

It  is  supposed  by  some  that  unless  the  ordinance 
is  administered  in  a  particular  way,  it  cannot  be  pro- 
perly called  baptism,  or  be  regarded  as  valid ;  and 
that  the  person  so  receiving  it  is  to  be  treated  as 
unbaptised,  until  it  shall  be  administered  to  him  by 
that  particular  mode.  Those  who  maintain  this 
ground  practice  immersion,  which  they  consider  es- 
sential to  the  ordinance. 

It  is  not  our  design  to  advocate  any  one  mode  to 
the  exclusion  of  every  other.  The  validity  of  the 
ordinance  consists  as  we  think  in  its  being  adminis- 
tered by  a  person  duly  authorised,  and  in  the  name 
of  the  Holy  Trinity ;  and  not  in  any  particular  way 
of  applying  the  water.  But  while  we  regard  the 
ordinance  as  valid  in  whatever  way  it  is  administer- 
ed, our  examination  of  the  scriptures  has  led  us  to  a 
very  different  conclusion  in  respect  to  the  mode  from 
that  which  is  practised  by  those  first  alluded  to. 
Instead  of  finding  that  the  Bible  establishes  immer- 
sion as  the  only  mode,  we  think  it  furnishes  much 
more  evidence  in  favor  of  sprinkling,  than  of  immer- 
sion. 

I.   The  baptism  of  our  Savior. 

There  is  no  occurrence  referred  to  so  frequently  to 


8 

prove  that  christians  ought  to  be  immersed  as  the 
baptism  of  our  Savior.  It  is  often  said  to  young 
converts  as  well  as  to  older  christians,  how  can  you 
expect,  to  have  much  spiritual  enjoyment,  so  long  as 
you  neglect  so  plain  and  important  a  duty,  as  fol- 
lowing Christ  into  the  water,  and  being  buried  with 
him  by  baptism?  And  such  has  been  sometimes 
the  effect  of  this  appeal  upon  the  ignorant  and  un- 
reflecting, that  in  one  case,  within  our  knowledge,  a 
man  who  had  been  previously  baptised  by  sprink- 
ling, was  unwilhng  to  defer  being  immersed  for  a 
single  week,  for  fear,  as  he  said,  he  should  die  before 
he  should  have  the  opportunity  of  following  his  Lord 
into  the  water. 

On  this  subject  we  may  remark: 

1 .  That  it  will  appear  from  a  consideration  of  the 
design  of  Christ's  baptism  that  it  w^as  not  intended 
as  an  example  for  us.  What  the  design  of  it  was 
we  shall  see  hereafter.  At  present  it  is  sufficient  to 
observe  that  his  command  for  us  to  be  baptized,  was 
not  given  in  connection  with  his  own  baptism;  but 
after  his  resurrection,  and  just  before  his  ascension 
into  heaven.     See  Mat.  28 :  19.     But 

2.  Inasmuch  as  Christ  appointed  baptism  to  be 
an  ordinance  in  his  church,  his  own  baptism,  which 
had  taken  place  several  years  before,  though  it  had 
a  different  design  from  christian  baptism,  may  be 
supposed  to  furnish  some  evidence  as  to  the  proper 
mode  of  admmistering  it. 

3.  The  evidence  derived  from  Christ's  baptism,  so 
far  from  proving  immersion  to  be  the  exclusive  mode, 
is  decidedly  in  favor  of  sprinkling. 


The  proof  of  this  is  short  and  simple.  It  rests 
upon  two  well  established  facts,  viz :  that  the  design 
of  his  baptism  was  to  introduce  him  into  his  official 
work  as  the  Mesiah ;  particularly  into  the  office  of 
Priest,  which  was  the  basis  of  the  other  two  offices ; 
and  that  the  priests  were  required,  as  a  part  of  their 
consecration  to  their  office,  to  be  sprinkled  with 
water.  These  two  facts  taken  together,  shew  beyond 
an}'  reasonable  doubt,  that  the  ordinance  w^as  ad- 
ministered by  sprinkling. 

The  design  of  Christ's  baptism,  w^e  said,  was  to 
introduce  him  in  a  regular  way  according  to  the  es- 
tablished usage  of  the  Jewish  Church  into  the  office 
of  Priest.  At  first  John  not  understanding  his  de- 
sign was  unwilling  to  baptize  him;  "saying,  I  have 
need  to  be  baptized  of  thee,  and  comest  thou  to  me?" 
But  Jesus  said  unto  him,  "  Thus  it  becometh  us  to 
fulfil  all  righteousness."  Mat.  3  :  15.  The  answer 
was  satisfactory  to  John,  and  he  proceeded  immedi- 
ately to  administer  the  ordinance.  But  what  did  Christ 
mean  by  this  reply :  "  Thus  it  becometh  us  to  fulfil 
all  righteousness:"  What  righteousness  ?  He  meant 
the  righteousness,  i.  e.  the  requirements  of  the  law 
of  iMoses  concerning  the  priesthood.  As  he  had 
now  arrived  at  thirty  years  of  age — the  time  at 
which  the  priests  were  to  enter  upon  their  office ;  and 
as  he  was  about  to  enter  upon  his  official  duties,  it 
was  necessary  that  he  should  be  consecrated  accord- 
ing to  the  Levitical  law:  so  that  when  he  should 
begin  to  preach  and  perform  other  official  acts,  no 
objection  could  be  made  against  his  ministry,  from 
his  not  being  properly  authorized. 


10 

Do  you  inquire  how  we  know  this  to  have  been 
his  meaning?  We  reply  that  when  "the  chief 
priests  and  elders  of  the  people  came  unto  him  as 
he  was  teaching,  and  said,  by  what  authority  doest 
thou  these  things  ?  and  who  gave  thee  this  author- 
ity ?"  he  referred  them  to  his  baptism  by  John.  "And 
Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  them,  I  also  will  ask 
you  one  thing,  Vv^hich  if  ye  tell  me,  I  in  likewise  will 
tell  you  by  what  authority  I  do  these  things.  The 
baptism  of  John,  whence  was  it?  from  heaven  or  of 
men  ?"  By  this  he  evidently  designed  to  be  under- 
stood, that  if  they  would  allow  John's  baptism  to  be 
from  heaven,  they  must  admit  his,  that  is,  Christ's 
authority;  because  John  baptized  him  in  order  to  in- 
troduce him  into  the  Priest's  office.  And  it  is  evi- 
dent also  that  they  did  understand  him  in  this  man- 
ner; and  hence  they  durst  not  answer  the  question, 
lest  they  should  be  compelled  to  acknowledge  that 
he  was  the  Messiah.     Mat.  21 :  23-27. 

Another  proof  that  his  baptism  was  designed  to 
induct  him  into  the  Priest's  office  is  derived  from  the 
fact  that  that  occurrence  is  identified  in  the  scrip- 
tures with  his  anointing  to  this  office.  Very  soon 
after  that  ordinance  was  administered  to  him  he  be- 
gan to  preach.  "From  that  time  Jesus  began  to 
preach.''  Mat.  4:  17.  And  having  read  the  follow- 
ing passage  in  Isaiah,  "The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is 
upon  me  because  he  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  the 
gospel,"'  &c.,  he  commenced  his  discourse  by  saying, 
"This  day  is  this  scripture  fulfilled  in  your  ears." 
Luke  4:  lG-21.     We  ask  how  was  that  scripture 


BAPTISM  OF  CHRIST. 


I  have  in  my  possession  a  voiame  with  six  ancient 
engravings  similar  to  this,  the  oldest  of  which  bear? 
date  A.  D.  401.  See  Taylor's  Apostolic  Baptism, 
Christ  is  standing  in  the  Jordan,  and  John  the  Bap- 
tist is  represented  in  one  of  these  as  applying  water 
with  the  hand,  and  in  others  with  a  perforated  vessel, 
through  the  holes  of  which  the  water  is  falling  in 
«mall  streams  on  the  Savior's  head. 


9 


18 

then  fulfilled?  The  connection  clearly  shows  that  \X 
was  fulfilled  by  his  having  been  just  anointed  to 
preach  the  gospel.  He  had  been  designated  to  this 
office  long  before,  even  from  everlasting.  But  he 
was  not  set  apart  until  now.  And  hence  he  never 
appeared  before  the  public  as  a  teacher  until  this 
time.  And  now  he  would  not  do  it  without  first 
fallowing  to  the  people  his  authority ;  lest  they  should 
^ay  that  he  was  assuming  an  office  to  which  he  had 
not  been  regularly  consecrated.  Accordingly  he  in- 
troduced himself  by  reading  the  prophecy  concern- 
ing the  anointing  of  the  Messiah,  and  by  declaring 
that  that  scripture  was  then  fulfilled;  that  he  had 
been  anointed  to  the  work  assigned  him  by  his  Fath- 
er, and  would  therefore  on  that  occasion  commence 
the  discharge  of  his  official  duties. 

But  when  did  his  anointing  take  place?  Evident- 
]y  at  his  baptism,  which  had  occurred  a  little  before 
this  time — when  the  Holy  Spirit  descended  and  sat 
upon  him  in  the  form  of  a  dove.  This  we  believe  is 
not  denied  by  any.  But  if  proof  is  demanded,  the 
following  is  sufficient :  "  The  word  which  God  sent 
unto  the  children  of  Israel,  preaching  peace  by  Jesus 
Christ;  (he  is  Lord  of  all;)  that  word  I  say,  ye  know, 
which  was  published  throughout  all  Judea,  and  be- 
gan in  Galilee,  after  the  baptism  which  John  preach- 
ed; how  God  anointed  Jesus  of  Nazareth  with  the 
Holy  Ghost  and  with  power."  iVcts  10:  36-38. 
Here  John's  baptism  and  Christ's  anointing  are  re- 
ferred to  the  same  period.  It  is  expressly  said  that 
the  w-ord  declaring  him  to  be  anointed  began  <x£tei 


14 

the  commencement  of  John's  baptism.  And  it  is 
clearly  implied  that  the  act  itself  of  anointing  him 
to  his  office  took  place  at  that  time ;  because  imme- 
diately after  his  baptism  by  John  and  not  before,  he 
began  to  work  miracles;  and  his  working  of  mira- 
cles is  associated  with  his  anointing.  "Anointed 
with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  power."  Now  every 
reader  of  the  Bible  knows  that  anointing  was  a  part 
of  the  consecration  of  the  priests  to  their  office. 
Consequently  the  baptism  of  Christ  and  the  descent 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  him,  must  have  been  design- 
ed to  induct  him  into  that  office. 

Since  then  the  design  of  Christ's  baptism  was  to 
induct  him  into  the  Priest's  office,  w^e  have  only  to 
refer,  in  order  to  show  how  he  w^as  baptized,  to 
the  consecration  of  the  Priests,  as  we  find  it  record- 
ed in  the  Bible.  "And  thou  shalt  bring  Aaron  and 
his  sons  unto  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  con- 
gregation and  wash  them  with  water.  And  thou 
shalt  put  upon  Aaron  the  holy  garments,  and  anoint 
him  and  sanctify  him  that  he  may  minister  unto  me 
in  the  priest's  office.  And  thou  shalt  bring  his  sons, 
and  clothe  them  with  coats ;  and  thou  shalt  anoint 
them  as  thou  didst  anoint  their  father  that  they  may 
minister  unto  me  in  the  priest's  office;  for  their 
anointing  shall  surely  be  an  everlasting  priesthood 
throughout  their  generations."     Ex.40:  12-15. 

Their  anointing  was  to  be  performed  as  follows : 
"  Then  shalt  thou  take  the  anointing  oil  and  pour  it 
upon  his  head  and  anoint  him."  Ex.  29 :  7.  This 
we  have  already  shown  was  done  to  our  Savior  by 


15 

the  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  upon  him  immediate- 
ly after  he  was  baptized.  "  And  lo  the  heavens  were 
opened  unto  him,  and  he  [John]  saw  the  Spirit  of 
God  descending  like  a  dove  and  lighting  upon  him." 
Mat.  3:  16. 

But  the  Priests  were  not  only  to  be  anointed  with 
oil,  but  washed  with  water.  This  was  performed 
upon  our  Savior  by  his  baptism ;  which  correspond- 
ed even  in  the  order  of  time  with  the  washing  of  the 
priests.  They  were  to  be  first  washed,  and  then 
anointed.  So  our  Savior  was  first  baptized,  and 
then  the  Holy  Spirit  descended  and  rested  upon  him ; 
thus  "  anointing  him"  in  a  miraculous  manner, "  with 
the  oil  of  gladness  above  his  fellows." 

The  only  question  now  is,  by  what  mode  were  the 
priests  to  be  washed  ?  We  reply  that  in  the  conse- 
cration of  Aaron  and  his  sons,  all  that  is  said  by 
which  we  can  determine  the  mode,  is  that  they  were 
to  be  washed  with  water  contained  in  a  laver  or  ba- 
son that  w^as  placed  at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle, 
and  which  was  to  stand  there  from  day  to  day  for  the 
priests  to  wash  their  hands  and  feet  in  when  they 
w^ere  about  to  engage  in  their  official  duties.  Ex. 
40 :  30-32.  This  circumstance  affords  at  least  pro- 
bable evidence  that  they  were  not  immersed.  But 
tlie  matter  w^as  not  left  here.  The  whole  tribe  of 
Levi  were  to  be  consecrated  to  the  service  of  the 
sanctuary  as  well  as  Aaron  and  his  sons.  And  in 
the  account  which  is  left  of  the  consecration  of  the 
Levites,  we  have  recorded  in  a  specific  and  particu- 
lar manner  what  in  the  case  of  the  others  was  ex- 


16 

pressed  in  general  terms.  In  the  one  case  it  simply 
says,  "  thou  shalt  wash  them  with  water."  But  in 
the  other  it  informs  us  in  what  way  this  must  be 
done.  "  And  thus  shalt  thou  do  unto  them  to  cleanse 
them:  sprinkle  water  of  purifying  upon  them." 
Num.  8:  7.  Thus  the  mode  of  applying  the  water 
was  settled  by  divine  appointment;  which,  it  is  fair 
to  conclude,  applied  to  the  priests  as  well  as  to  the 
Levites ;  since  in  the  absence  of  scripture  testimony, 
no  reason  can  be  given  why  the  latter  were  required 
to  be  sprinkled  and  the  former  immersed. 

Now  who  can  hesitate  for  a  moment,  with  this  fact 
before  him,  unless  there  is  express  testimony  to  the 
contrary,  to  admit  that  Christ  must  have  been  bap- 
tized by  sprinkling  ?  Would  he  in  his  induction  into 
the  Priest's  office  deviate  from  the  order  of  his  Fath- 
er's house,  when  in  every  other  respect  he  was  so 
exact  in  the  observance  of  the  Levitical  law?  The 
supposition  cannot  be  admitted.  We  repeat  it  then, 
he  must,  as  appears  to  us,  have  been  baptized  by 
sprinkling.  And  consequently  his  baptism  so  far  as 
it  affords  any  evidence  on  the  subject,  is  decidedly 
in  favor  of  that  mode. 

Those  texts  which  are  relied  on  to  prove  his  im- 
mersion will  be  considered  hereafter.  We  would 
notice  them  now,  if  they  affected  the  preceding  ar- 
gument; that  by  balancing  the  two  together  we 
might  estimate  their  comparative  weight.  But  as 
the  above  proof  is  entirely  independent  of  those 
texts,  and  as  we  think,  not  contradicted  by  them,  we 
shall  defer  the  consideration  of  them,  in  order  to  take 


17 

them  up  in  connection  with  some  others  of  a  similar 
character.  The  same  course  will  also  be  pursued  in 
relation  to  the  baptism  of  the  Eunuch  which  we  are 
now  to  consider. 

II.   The  Baptism  of  the  Eunuch. 

The  account  of  the  Eunuch's  baptism  is  recorded 
in  the  8th  chapter  of  the  Acts,  commencing  at  the 
26th  verse.  By  reading  this  account  it  will  be  per- 
ceived that  when  Philip  joined  himself  to  the  char- 
iot, the  Eunuch  was  reading  a  passage  in  the  pro- 
phecy of  Isaiah;  and  that  Philip  "began  at  the  same 
scripture  and  preached  unto  him  Jesus."  The  pas- 
sage which  he  was  reading  is  in  the  53d  chapter  of 
Isaiah,  the  7th  and  8th  verses.  But  if  you  consult 
the  passage,  you  will  perceive  that  he  was  then  in 
the  very  middle  of  the  subject,  which  commenced  at 
the  13th  verse  of  the  preceding  chapter,  and  extend- 
ed to  the  end  of  the  chapter  which  he  was  reading. 
All  these  verses  then  may  be  justly  considered  as 
forming  the  basis  of  Philip's  discourse.  As  you  read 
them,  recollect  that  the  Bible  was  not  then  divided, 
as  it  now  is,  into  chapters  and  verses. 

Now  notice  another  fact,  viz:  that  the  proposal 
for  the  Eunuch  to  be  baptized  came  from  the  Eunuch 
himself.  "And  as  they  went  on  their  way  they 
came  to  a  certain  water :  and  the  Eunuch  said,  see 
here  is  water;  what  doth  hinder  me  to  be  baptized?" 
Of  course  he  must  have  known  that  baptism  was  an 
ordinance  of  the  Christian  church.  But  where  did 
he  obtain  this  knowledge  ?  He  had  just  been  up  to 
Jerusalem  to  worship ;  but  not  with  the  disciples  of 


18 

Christ.  Though  a  Gentile  by  birth,  he  was,  as  to 
his  rehgion,  a  Jew;  and  while  at  Jerusalem,  he 
would  be  likely  to  mingle  exclusively  with  the  Jews ; 
who  thought  too  meanly  of  the  infant-church  of 
Christ,  to  give  him  any  account  of  its  organization. 
It  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  they  would  studious- 
ly avoid  giving  him  any  information  as  to  the  exis- 
tence of  this  new  sect;  lest  by  some  means  he  might 
become  tinctured  with  their  doctrines  and  carry  the 
knowledge  of  them  to  his  own  country.  But  if  they 
spoke  at  all,  it  would  be  to  mention  such  circum- 
stances as  would  be  calculated  to  fix  upon  his  mind 
an  invincible  prejudice  against  the  Savior  and  his 
disciples.  Christian  baptism  would  not  therefore 
form  any  part  of  their  conversation. 

To  us  it  seems  quite  clear  that  he  could  have  re- 
ceived this  information  from  no  other  source  than 
from  the  preaching  of  Philip.  And  if  not,  then  Phil- 
ip in  expounding  the  Prophecy  of  the  Messiah  which 
the  Eunuch  was  reading,  must  have  preached  bap- 
tism. Now  read  the  whole  prophecy,  beginning  at 
the  52d  chapter  and  13th  verse,  and  tell  us  in  what 
part  of  it  he  found  any  thing  which  led  him  to  speak 
about  baptism.  He  must  have  found  it  in  the  15th 
verse  of  the  52d  chapter.  "  So  shall  he  sprinkle 
many  nations."  By  analyzing  this  text  we  shall  be 
able  to  ascertain  how  the  Eunuch  was  baptized. 

1.  The  word  "he,"  refers  to  the  Messiah.  "Of 
whom  spake  the  prophet  this,"  said  the  Eunuch  to 
Philip,  "  of  himself  or  some  other  man  ?  And  PhiHp 
began  at  the  same  scripture  and  preached  unto  him 
Jesus." 


BAPTISM  OF  THR  EUNUCH. 


In  several  ancient  cuts,  candidates  for  baptism  are 
represented  as  kneeling  and  the  administrator  as 
pouring  water  on  the  head  with  some  kind  of  vessel. 


2a 


21 

2.  The  phrase  "many  nations"  refers  to  the  Gen- 
tiles ;  who,  if  they  beUeved,  were  to  receive  the  or- 
dinance of  baptism,  and  be  admitted  into  the  Chris- 
tian church,  no  less  than  the  Jews.  This  declara- 
tion was  probably  made  by  Philip ;  as  we  infer  from 
the  request  of  the  Eunuch,  (who  was  a  Gentile  by 
birth,)  to  be  baptized — a  request  which  would  be 
very  natural  after  such  a  declaration  from  Philip. 
"  May  the  many  Gentile  nations  be  admitted  as  well 
as  the  Jews,  to  the  Messiah's  kingdom,  and  is  bap- 
tism the  initiatory  ordinance?  What  doth  hinder 
me,  who  belong  to  one  of  those  many  nations,  from 
receiving  the  ordinance?"  Then  upon  his  declaring 
that  he  believed,  Philip  proceeded  to  baptize  him. 

3.  The  word  "sprinkle"  needs  no  explanation. 
The  only  question  which  can  arise  concerning  it  is, 
whether  it  refers  to  water  baptism  or  to  spiritual 
cleansing.  Probably  it  refers  to  both.  But  as  this 
is  not  essential  to  our  argument,  we  are  not  anxious 
at  present  to  decide.  If  Philip  gave  the  Eunuch  his 
first  ideas  concerning  Christian  baptism  by  expound- 
ing to  him  that  text,  it  is  clear  that  he  would  teach 
him  that  mode  of  administering  the  ordinance  which 
corresponded  with  the  language  of  the  prophecy; 
whether  the  ordinance  itself  was  primarily  referred 
to,  or  that  spiritual  cleansing  of  which  the  ordinance 
is  a  symbol.  And  it  is  equally  clear  (for  consistency 
required  it,)  that  he  must  have  practiced  according 
to  the  same  mode;  i.  e.  by  sprinkhng. 

On  the  supposition  that  he  immersed  him,  he  must 
have  addressed  the  Eunuch  in  language  like  the  fol- 


22 

lowing:  "My  Gentile  brother,  I  have  been  telling 
you  of  the  effusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the  Gen- 
tiles, which  is  to  take  place  under  the  gospel,  and 
their  introduction  into  the  Christian  church  by  bap- 
tism ;  agreeably  to  the  prophecy,  "  So  shall  he  sprin- 
kle many  nations."  But  1  must  inform  you  that  we 
do  not  in  our  practice  adhere  to  the  language  of  the 
prophecy  in  every  particular — we  do  not  sprinkle, 
but  immerse."  How  improbable — nay,  how  absurd 
is  such  a  supposition  as  this !  We  appeal  then  to 
the  candor  of  every  reader,  whether  the  evidence  is 
not  strong,  if  not  decisive,  that  the  Eunuch  was  bap- 
tized by  sprinkling. 

III.  Other  instances  of  Baptism  recorded  in  the  New 
Testament. 

Since  w^e  have  established  the  fact  that  our  Savior 
and  the  Eunuch  were  baptized  by  sprinkling — which 
are  the  only  cases  in  the  Bible  in  w^hich  the  persons 
baptized  are  said  to  have  gone  into  the  water;  it  is 
unnecessary  to  refer  to  any  other  examples.  For  if 
those  who  went  into  the  water  in  order  to  be  bap- 
tized, were  sprinkled,  we  may  safely  conclude  that 
those  were  also  sprinlded  who  do  not  appear  to  have 
gone  near  any  water ;  but  to  have  been  baptized  in 
the  house.  Such  was  the  case  with  those  who  were 
converted  on  the  day  of  Pentecost — Acts  2:2;  with 
Paul — Acts  9:18;  with  Cornelius  and  his  friends — 
Acts  10:  48;  and  with  the  jailor  and  his  household 
—Acts  16:  33. 

The  only  exception  to  this,  besides  what  has  been 
considered,  is  the  baptism  of  Lydia,  which  it  is  pro- 


23 

bable  was  performed  "  by  a  river  side."  Concerning 
this  the  following  remark,  we  think,  will  be  in  point, 
viz :  that  in  baptizing  her  there,  the  apostles  pursued 
what  appears  to  have  been  their  uniform  course — 
which  was  to  baptize  their  converts  on  the  very  spot 
where  they  were  converted.  We  do  not  read  of  a 
single  instance  of  their  leaving  the  place  where  they 
happened  to  be  when  the  individuals  were  converted, 
in  order  to  administer  this  ordinance.  If  they  were 
in  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  as  they  were  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  the  ordinance  was  administered  there. 
If  they  were  in  a  private  dwelling,  as  in  the  case  of 
Cornelius,  it  was  attended  to  there.  If  they  were  in 
a  prison,  as  was  the  fact,  when  the  jailor  was  con- 
verted, baptism  was  performed  in  the  outer  court  of 
that  building.  "And  brought  them  out" — Acts  16: 
30 — i.  e.  from  "the  inner  prison" — v.  24 — into  the 
outer  court — or  room  for  debtors  and  petty  criminals. 
And  if  they  were  beside  a  brook  or  river  as  in  the 
case  of  the  Eunuch  and  of  Lydia,  this  sacrament 
was  administered  there. 

The  fact  therefore  that  she  was  baptized  "  by  a 
river  side,"  (admitting  it  to  be  so,  though  it  is  not 
stated  explicitly — see  Acts  16:  13-15,)  is  just  what 
we  should  expect  to  hear — inasmuch  as  that  was  the 
place  of  her  conversion.  This  woman  and  certain 
other  devout  Jews  were  accustomed  to  resort  there 
on  the  Sabbath  for  prayer;  that  in  this  pleasant  and 
retired  place,  without  the  walls  of  the  city,  they 
might  worship  God,  without  being  disturbed  in  their 
3 


24 

devotions  by  the  idolatrous  and  persecuting  inhabi- 
tants of  Philippi.  To  this  place  Paul  resorted,  as 
was  very  natural,  on  the  Sabbath  after  his  arrival  at 
that  city,  and  preached  the  gospel.  He  was  ac- 
quainted with  the  fact  that  his  Jewish  brethren  who 
resided  in  that  city,  were  accustomed  to  assemble 
there  for  worship;  and  he  went  there  to  worship 
with  them,  and  to  make  known  the  religion  of  Christ. 
His  was  the  first  gospel  sermon  ever  preached  there, 
and  Lydia  was  the  first  Christian  convert.  Of  course 
he  did  not  select  the  spot  for  the  purpose  of  baptiz- 
ing, as  some  profess  to  believe ;  for  it  was  not  se- 
lected by  him  at  all.  It  had  been  selected  before  by 
certain  pious  Jews — not  for  baptizing,  but  for  prayer. 
"Where  prayer  was  wont  to  be  made" — Acts  16: 
13.  Gr.  "  where  there  was  wont  to  be  a  proseuchcE*' 
—a  Jewish  place  of  prayer.  Paul's  presence  there 
was  wholly  providential.  And  his  preaching  having 
been  blessed  to  the  conversion  of  Lydia,  her  bap- 
tism, according  to  the  rule  just  given,  by  which  the 
apostles  were  usually  governed,  would  follow  as  a 
matter  of  course,  whether  she  had  been  in  that  place 
or  in  any  other.  But  as  not  a  syllable  is  said  about 
the  mode  in  which  it  was  administered,  we  have 
reason  to  believe,  judging  from  the  examples  which 
we  have  already  considered,  that  it  was  performed 
by  sprinkling.  There  is,  to  say  the  least,  no  evi- 
dence to  the  contrary. 

IV.  Evidence  concerning  the  mode  of  Baptism,  de- 
rived from  some  Scripture  facts  in  the  history  and  cus- 
toms of  the  Jews. 


BAPTISM  OF  THE  ISRAELITES  IN  THE 
CLOUD  AND  L\  THE  SEA. 


1   Cor.   10:  2. 


27 

This  evidence  is  two  fold — first  from  the  baptism 
of  the  Israelites  in  the  cloud  and  in  the  sea ;  and 
secondly  from  their  religious  purifications.  The  ac- 
count of  the  former  is  found  in  1st  Cor.  10:2.  "And 
were  all  baptized  unto  Moses  in  the  cloud  and  in  the 
sea." 

The  analogy  between  this  and  Christian  baptism 
is  the  following,  viz  :  that  the  Israelites  are  said  to 
have  been  initiated  by  baptism  into  the  Jewish 
church,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  disciples  of  Christ 
are  into  the  Christian  church.  Compare  the  above 
passage  with  Rom.  6  :  3,  and  Gal.  3  :  27.  In  these 
texts  Cliiistians  are  said  to  be  baptized  "into  Christ" 
— a  phraseology  exactly  corresponding  with  that 
which  is  used  in  regard  to  the  Israelites.  ^'Unto  or 
into  Moses" — "  into  or  unto  Christ."  In  the  Greek 
the  prepositions  preceding  Christ  and  Moses  are  one 
and  the  same ;  which  is  rendered  either  into  or  unto, 
at  pleasure. 

This  exact  correspondence  in  the  phraseolog}'  em- 
ployed in  the  two  cases,  shews  that  when  the  Apos- 
tle used  the  term  baptism  in  relation  to  the  Israel- 
ites, he  had  Christian  baptism  in  his  mind;  and  that 
he  considered  the  one  as  adapted  to  illustrate  the 
other. 

But  how  were  they  baptized  in  the  sea?  Not  by 
immersion,  for  they  went  over  on  dry  ground.  Ex. 
14:  22-29.  It  must  have  been  by  the  sprinkling  of 
the  spray  from  the  water ;  which  was  "  a  wall  unto 
them  on  their  right  hand  and  on  their  left."  Nor 
.could  they  have  been  immersed  in  the  cloud.     For 


28 

the  cloud  was  before  and  above  them.  "  And  the 
Lord  went  before  them  by  day  in  a  pillar  of  a 
cloud."  Again,  "  He  spread  a  cloud  for  a  covering." 
Ex.  13:  21.  Ps.  105:  39.  They  could  have  been 
baptized  in  no  other  way,  as  we  can  perceive,  than 
by  the  sprinkling  of  mist  or  rain  from  the  cloud.  So 
far  therefore  as  this  example  proves  any  thing  on 
the  subject,  it  goes  to  establish  the  fact  that  sprink- 
ling is  the  most  proper  mode  of  Christian  baptism. 

The  other  particular  to  whicii  we  referred  under 
this  head  was  the  Jewish  purifications.  These  be- 
ing of  a  religious  nature,  and  the  mode  of  perform- 
ing them  being  of  divine  appointment,  and  being 
also  called  baptisms  in  several  places  of  scripture, 
afford  much  proof  as  to  the  proper  mode  of  admin- 
istering that  ordinance. 

They  are  called  baptisms  in  the  following  texts : 
"  And  when  they  come  from  the  market,  except  they 
wash  (Gr.  baptize,)  they  eat  not.  And  many  other 
things  there  be,  which  they  have  received  to  hold,  as 
the  washings  (Gr.  baptisms,)  of  cups  and  pots  and 
brazen  vessels  and  tables."  Mark:  4.  AlsoHeb.9: 
10.  "Which  stood  only  in  meats  and  drinks  and  divers 
washings  (Gr.  baptisms;)  and  carnal  ordinances." 
These  texts  shew  that  Mark  and  Paul  considered  the 
word  baptism  a  fit  term  to  employ  in  order  to  de- 
scribe the  Jewish  purifications.  Or  in  other  words, 
they  prove  that  baptism  was  regarded  by  the  ^vriters 
of  the  'New  Testament  as  essentially  the  same  thing 
with  the  religious  washings  of  the  Jews.  It  is  there- 
fore proper  for  us  in  speaking  on  the  subject  to  rea- 


29 

son  from  the  one  to  the  other.  Now  it  is  well 
known  to  those  who  have  carefully  read  the  scrip- 
tures, that  the  Jewish  purifications  were  performed 
in  most  cases  by  sprinkling.  See  Lev.  14:  7,  16 
27,  51.  Num.  8 :  7,  and  19 :  18,  19.  The  inference 
then  is  that  sprinkling  is  a  scriptural  mode  of  Chris- 
tian baptism. 

V.  Evidence  concerning  the  mode  of  Baptism  derived 
from  the  hlood  of  Christ,  and  the  influences  of  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

First,  the  blood  of  Christ.  This  is  never  called  in 
scripture  the  blood  of  dipping  or  immersion;  but 
the  blood  of  sprinkling.  "  To  Jesus  the  Mediator  of 
the  new  covenant,  and  to  the  blood  of  sprinkling.'' 
Heb.  12:  24.  "Unto  obedience  and  sprinkling  of 
the  blood  of  Christ."  1st  Pet.  1 :  2.  This  has  allu- 
sion to  the  sprinkling  of  blood  so  often  practised  in 
the  Jewish  sacrifices ;  and  it  represents  the  purifica- 
tion of  the  conscience  through  the  application  of 
Christ's  blood.  In  like  manner  baptism  is  designed 
to  represent  something  very  similar,  viz :  the  purifi- 
cation of  the  heart.  The  fact  therefore  that  the 
former  is  denominated  the  blood  of  sprinkling,  is  a 
proof  that  the  latter  ought  to  be  administered  in  the 
same  way. 

Secondly,  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  are 
likewise  represented  in  scripture  by  sprinkling,  or 
pouring* — never  by  immersion.     The  following  texts 

*  We  have  not  before  now  used  the  term  pouring,  because  the  bible 
does  not  use  it  we  believe  in  relation  to  any  of  the  points  which  we  have 
yet  treatc'\    To  d  sc.ibe  the  inffuer.C3s  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  this  term  ie 


30 

among  many  others  are  in  point.  "  I  will  pour  out 
my  Spirit  upon  thy  seed."  Isa.  44 :  3.  "I  will  pour 
out  my  Spirit  upon  all  flesh."  Joel  2 :  28.  "  Then 
will  I  sprinkle  clean  water  upon  you  and  ye  shall  be 
clean."  Ezek.  36:  25.  In  accordance  with  these 
texts,  Peter  said  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  "  There- 
fore being  by  the  right  hand  of  God  exalted,  and 
having  received  of  the  Father  the  promise  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  he  hath  shed  forth" — mark,  shed  forth 
"this  which  ye  now  see  and  hear."  Acts  2:  33. 
Now  this  shedding  forth  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  called 
baptism.  Acts  1:  5.  "John  truly  baptized  with 
water,  but  ye  shall  be  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost 
not  many  days  hence."  And  immediately  after  three 
thousand  of  them  had  been  thus  baptized;  i.  e.  with 
the  Holy  Ghost  shed  forth  upon  them ;  they  received 
water  baptism  as  the  symbol  of  it.  Of  course  if  the 
symbol  corresponded  with  the  manner  of  the  Spirit's 
descent,  it  must  have  been  performed  by  sprinkling 
or  pouring. 

Again,  the  design  of  baptism  is  to  represent  the 
work  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  This  is  evident  from  such 
texts  as  the  following:  "For  by  one  Spirit  are  we 
all  baptized  into  one  body."  1st  Cor.  12 :  13.  "For 
as  many  of  you  as  have  been  baptized  into  Christ 
have  put  on  Christ."  Gal.  3:  27.  "Repent  and  be 
baptized  every  one  of  you  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ  for  the  remission  of  sins,  and  ye  shall  receive 

used  as  well  as  sprinkling ;  and  we  therefore  introduce  it.  These  two 
modes  however  are  essentially  the  same — both  being  performed  by  ap- 
plying the  water  to  the  subject,  and  not  the  subject  to  the  water,  as  in 
the  case  of  immersion. 


BAPTISM  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


Acts  1 :  5,  compared  with  chap.  2 :  33. 


3a 


33 

the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  "  Arise  and  be  bap- 
tized, and  wash  away  thy  sins,  caUing  upon  the 
name  of  the  Lord."  Acts  2 :  38,  and  22 :  16.  "  Ex- 
cept a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit  he 
cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God."  John  3 :  5. 
In  some  of  these  texts  the  word  baptize  is  used  figu- 
ratively and  is  evidently  designed  to  represent  the 
work  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  In  the  others  it  refers  to 
water  baptism;  but  is  used  (as  appears  plain  from 
the  connection,)  as  the  external  sign  of  the  same  in- 
ternal work  of  the  Spirit  which  is  represented  by  the 
word  in  its  figurative  sense — a  coincidence  that 
shews  this  to  be  the  design  of  the  ordinance.  But 
the  Spirit's  influences  as  we  have  just  seen  are  ex- 
pressed in  the  scriptures  by  sprinkling  or  pouring ; 
never  by  immersion.  Since  then  baptism  is  an  or- 
dinance which  is  designed  to  represent  those  influ- 
ences, it  is  manifest  that  the  most  appropriate  mode 
of  administering  it  is  by  sprinkling  or  pouring. 

VI.  A  consideration  of  the  word  Baptize. 

We  shall  now  proceed  to  consider  those  words  and 
phrases  which  are  relied  upon  to  prove  immersion. 

The  word  baptize  is  claimed  as  furnishing  clear 
proof  in  favor  of  immersion.  Some  are  so  confi- 
dent that  it  signifies  immerse,  that  in  administering 
the  ordinance  they  say — at  least  one  is  known  to 
have  said  thus — "  I  immerse  thee,"  instead  of  "  I 
baptize  thee."  But  we  think  it  will  be  found  on  ex- 
amination, that  the  etymology  of  the  word  is  by  no 
means  decisive  in  favor  of  immersion.  "While  we 
do  not  deny,"  says  an  able  writer,  "  that  this  word 


34 

often  signifies  to  dip,  we  maintain,  that  it  is  also  fre- 
quently used  with  much  greater  latitude,  and  may 
mean  any  apphcation  of  a  body  to  a  Uquid,  by  which 
any  portion  of  the  liquid,  however  small,  is  imbibed. 
In  confirmation  of  this  position,  we  appeal  to  all  the 
Greek  lexicons  of  credit :  in  these  the  original  word 
is  explained  as  meaning,  not  only  to  dip,  but  to 
wash,  to  stain,  to  dye,  &c.     And  we  have  fully  satis- 
fied ourselves,  that  the  primary  radical  sense  of  this 
word  is,  not  to  immerse  but  to  dye ;  that  to  dip  is  a 
secondary  signification,  derived  from   the  circum- 
stance that  dying  was  usually  performed  by  immer- 
sing the  substance  to  be  colored  in  a  vat;  that  nev- 
ertheless, the  word  is  by  no  means  confined  to  dying 
by  immersion,  but  with  equal  propriety  signifies  the 
staining  or  coloring  of  a  thing,  in  any  other  way, 
even  where  the  idea  of  dipping  is  out  of  the  ques- 
tion."     We  have  introduced  the  above  quotation 
because  those  for  whom  we  now  write  are  not  able 
to  appreciate  critical  remarks,  but  must  depend  for 
information  concerning  the  original  word  upon  the 
authority  of  the  learned. 

But  though  you  may  not  be  able  to  trace  the  ety- 
mology of  the  word,  there  is  another  method  of  ar- 
riving at  its  meaning,  which  you  can  understand  as 
well  as  those  who  are  acquainted  with  the  Greek. 
It  consists  in  comparing  together  those  texts  of  scrip- 
ture in  which  the  word  occurs,  and  ascertaining  how 
it  is  applied  by  the  sacred  writers.  If  the  word 
means  primarily  and  uniformly  to  immerse,  why  do 
we  find  it  employed  to  represent  the  Jewish  purifica- 


35 

tions,  which  were  usually  performed  by  sprinkling? 
and  also  to  describe  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
which  are  always  expressed,  where  w^ater  is  alluded 
to  at  all,  by  sprinkUng  or  pouring? 

You  are  able  also  as  well  as  the  learned  to  reason 
from  the  design  of  baptism.  It  is  designed  to  sig- 
nify, as  has  been  showm,  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
This  is  so  clear  from  the  various  uses  of  the  word  in 
scripture  that  we  wonder  how  any  can  entertain  a 
different  opinion.  But  if  the  operations  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  are  designed  to  be  represented  by  it,  and  these 
operations  are  uniformly  described  where  water  is 
referred  to,  by  sprinkling  or  pouring ;  then  it  cannot 
be  supposed  that  the  sacred  writers  would  have  se- 
lected a  word  to  represent  those  operations  which 
uniformly  signifies  to  immerse. 

There  are  likewise  some  facts  which  have  a  bear- 
ing on  this  point,  and  the  force  of  which  every  reader 
can  appreciate.  One  is  that  there  is  strong  evi- 
dence that  Christ  was  not  immersed;  and  yet  the 
word  baptize  is  employed  to  express  the  ordinance 
by  which  he  w^as  inducted  into  his  priestly  office. 
Another  is  that  Christ  employed  the  word  in  his  last 
commission  to  his  disciples,  "  saying,  go  teach  all 
nations,  baptizing  them;"  and  yet  but  a  few  weeks 
before  this  commission  was  given,  he  discountenan- 
ced the  practice  of  immersion  in  religious  purifica- 
tions. "  He  that  is  washed,  said  he  to  Peter,  need- 
eth  not,  save  to  wash  his  feet,  but  is  clean  every, 
whit."  John  13  :  9,  10.  By  reading  this  text  in  its 
connection  we  shall  perceive  that  so  far  from  intro- 
4 


36 

ducing  the  practice  of  washing  the  body  all  over  as 
a  religious  rite,  he  discouraged  it;  by  declaring  it 
unnecessary,  and  by  refusing  to  gratify  Peter  who 
wished  to  have  water  applied  to  him  in  a  more  pro- 
fuse manner  than  our  Savior  was  using  it. 

A  third  fact  is  that  in  the  use  of  other  words  em- 
ployed to  express  the  same  things  which  are  repre- 
sented by  baptism,  the  sacred  writers  very  seldom 
make  use  of  words  that  signify  immersion,  but  very 
frequently  those  that  signify  sprinkling  or  pouring. 
The  word  immerse  never  occurs  a  single  time  in  the 
bible ;  and  the  word  dip  is  never  used  but  in  a  single 
instance  where  religious  cleansing  is  referred  to,  ex- 
cept for  the  purpose  of  sprinkling  the  blood  or  water 
thus  dipped  up  upon  the  person  or  thing  to  be  clean- 
sed. See  Lev.  4:  6;  and  14:  6,  7.  Also,  Num. 
19:   18. 

The  single  case  referred  to  is  that  of  Naaman, 
who  to  be  cured  of  the  leprosy,  dipped  himself  seven 
times  in  Jordan.  2nd  Kings,  5:  14.  Besides  this 
there  is  not  a  single  example  in  the  bible  of  purifi- 
cation being  performed  by  dipping  or  immersing  the 
l^ody  in  water.  And  it  is  not  clear  that  Naaman's 
dipping  himself  consisted  in  immersing  the  whole 
body. 

On  the  other  hand,  words  which  represent  a  spar- 
ing application  of  water  are  of  very  frequent  occur- 
rence. The  term  sprinkle,  used  either  in  a  literal  or 
tigurative  sense,  and  in  reference  either  to  blood  or 
water;  the  term  pour,  referring  generally  to  the  in- 
iiuences  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  and  other  similar  terms, 


37 

such  a?  drop^  distil^  shed,  &c.  occur,  taken  all  togeth- 
er, more  than  thirty  tunes;  including  in  the  enume- 
ration only  those  texts  which  throw  light  on  the  sub- 
ject of  baptism.  There  are  many  other  passages 
where  some  of  these  words  occur,  w^iich  are  not 
embraced  in  this  statement.  Now  is  it  probable  that 
the  inspired  writers  would  adopt  a  word  to  express 
the  ordinance  of  baptism  which,  on  the  supposition 
that  it  signifies  nothing  but  immerse,  bears  so  little 
analogy  to  the  common  phraseology  of  the  bible? 
If  not,  (and  if  the  other  facts  mentioned  are  allowed 
to  have  any  weight.)  then  we  may  conclude  that  the 
use  of  the  word  baptize,  to  say  the  least,  is  not  de- 
cisive in  favor  of  immersion;  but  that  it  is  perfectly 
consistent  with  the  adoption  of  a  different  mode. 

A""!!.  A  considcTaiion  of  the  phrases  "  went  down  into 
the  welter^ — " Because  there  was  much  water  thercT  ^c. 

The  phrases  "  went  down  into  the  water,"  and 
"come  up  out  of  the  water"  occur  no  where  in  the 
bible  in  connection  with  this  subject  except  in  the 
account  of  the  baptism  of  our  Savior  and  of  the 
Eunuch.  They  will  therefore  after  what  has  been 
said  concerning  those  cases  require  but  a  i^w  re- 
marks. 

1 .  It  is  capable  of  being  shown  by  a  critical  ex- 
amination of  the  original  text,  that  these  phrases  do 
not  necessarily  imply  that  the  persons  referred  to,  ac- 
tually went  into  the  water  at  all,  but  might  have  been 
baptized  standing  or  kneeling  by  the  side  of  it.  But 
without  insisting  upon  this,  since  it  can  only  be 
understood  by  the  Greek  scholar,  we  observe, 


88 

2.  That  allowing  them  all  the  force  which  they 
have  as  they  read  in  our  English  bibles,  they  cannot 
be  supposed  even  by  the  advocates  of  immersion,  to 
furnish  any  thing  more  than  the  evidence  of  proba- 
bility. It  is  not  pretended  by  any  body  that  "  going 
into  the  water"  is  baptism:  for  the  administrators 
themselves  went  into  the  water,  as  well  as  the  per- 
sons baptized.  All  that  can  be  said  is,  that  as  they 
went  into  the  water,  it  is  probable  they  were  immer- 
sed— for  if  they  were  not  immersed  why  did  they  go 
into  the  water  at  all?  This  is  the  whole  strength  of 
the  argument.  But  can  no  reason  be  assigned  why 
they  did  this,  except  for  the  purpose  of  immersion? 
In  the  case  of  the  Eunuch,  an  obvious  and  probable 
reason  was  that  he  was  travelling  in  a  desert,  and 
it  may  be  presumed,  had  no  vessel  to  dip  up  the 
water  and  bring  it  to  the  chariot.  And  the  reason 
for  our  Savior's  doing  it  may  be  found  in  close  con- 
nection with  that  which  might  be  given  for  John's 
preaching  in  the  open  air.  The  latter  was  done 
from  necessity  on  account  of  the  great  multitudes 
who  attended  on  his  ministry.  And  in  the  selection 
of  a  spot  for  this  purpose,  he  would  naturally  select 
one  that  would  be  the  most  convenient  for  his  hear- 
ers, viz:  near  that  noble  river — the  only  one  in  the 
land — which  rendered  the  country  around  it  produc- 
tive, the  atmosphere  salubrious,  and  would  contri^ 
bute  otherwise  to  the  convenience  of  the  people. 
And  being  assembled  on  that  spot,  it  was  more  na- 
tural for  them,  considering  the  manners  and  customs 
in  the  east  at  that  time,  to  descend  the  bank  of  the 


39 

river  to  receive  baptism  than  to  have  the  water 
brought  to  them.  This  they  probably  did;  and  our 
Savior  in  conformity  with  their  example  pursued  the 
same  course.     But, 

3.  If  no  satisfactory  reason  could  be  given  why 
they  went  down  into  the  water,  the  evidence  from 
this  fact  in  favor  of  immersion  does  not  amount 
even  to  probability,  when  it  is  recollected  that  we 
have  proved  from  other  sources  that  both  Christ  and 
the  Eunuch  were  baptized  by  sprinkling.  The  cir- 
cumstance of  their  going  into  the  water  weighs 
nothing  in  our  estimation  against  the  proof  which 
has  already  been  adduced.  The  same  may  be  s^id 
concerning  the  phrase  "in  Jordan."  Jesus  "was 
baptized  of  John  in  Jordan ;"  (Mark  1:9;)  and  yet 
he  was  sprinkled.  If  then  the  multitudes  whom 
John  baptized  "  in  Jordan  "  followed  the  example  of 
their  Savior  in  every  particular,  they  were  sprinkled 
too. 

.  Nor  does  John's  "  baptizing  in  Enon  because  there 
was  much  water  there,"  prove  that  he  immersed. 
There  were  other  reasons  besides  immersion  which 
might  have  induced  him  to  select  that  spot — parti- 
cularly the  accommodation  of  the  multitude  who  re» 
sorted  to  him  and  who  would  need  "much  water" 
to  wash  and  cook  with  and  for  themselves  and  cam- 
els to  drink.  And  again ;  whatever  might  have  been 
the  reason  for  taking  his  stand  there,  we  may  infer 
that  it  was  not  for  the  purpose  of  immersion^  from 
the  fact  that  at  the  very  time  when  he  was  baptizing 
in  Enon  "because  there  was  much  water  there," 
4a 


40 

Christ  and  his  disciples  were  baptizing  greater  num- 
bers than  he  was,  in  another  part  of  the  land,  viz : 
in  Judea,  where  large  streams  did  not  exist,  and 
where  it  does  not  appear  from  the  account  that  they 
were  beside  any  stream  at  all.  Compare  John  3 : 
22,  23,  with  John  4:1. 

We  admit  however,  that  the  mention  of  "  much 
water  in  Enon"  seems  to  imply  that  John  occupied 
a  peculiarly  favorable  spot  for  his  ministry.     If  the 
use  of  water  for  ordinary  purposes  is  not  deemed  by 
all  a  sufficient  reason  for  his  selecting  that  place,  we 
will  add  another  which  may  divest  the  subject  of  any 
remaining  difficulty.     Besides  the  use  of  water  for 
ordinary  purposes,  it  is  highly  probable  that  it  was 
used  as  a  prcjmration  for  the  ordinance  of  baptism. 
The  Jews  in  case  of  bodily  disease  or  other  ceremonial 
defilement,  were  required  in  order  to  their  purifica- 
tion, to  bathe  themselves  in  water  as  a  preparation 
for  the  sprinkling  of  water  or  blood,  which  succeed- 
ed or  accompanied  the  other.     See  Lev.  14:  8-14, 
and  Num.  19:  19,  20.     The  strictly  religious  part  of 
the  ceremony  was  performed  by  sprinkling.     With- 
out this  the  previous  preparatory  bathing  passed  for  * 
nothing.     See  again  Num.   19:  20.     The  object  in 
lequiring  them  to  bathe  their  flesh  appears  to  have 
been  to  make  them  physically  clean,  because  the  per- 
formance of  the  rite  of  sprinklingwhile  their  persons 
were  dirty    and  defiled,  would  indicate  a  state  of 
mind,  which  was  dishonorable  to  God.     For  this  rea- 
Bon  they  were  likewise  required  to  wash  or  change 
their  garments  as  a  preparation  for  any  solemn  act 


41 

of  devotion.  See  Gen.  35:  2;  Ex.  19:  10,  11,  14. 
If  the  people  who  attended  John's  ministry  conform- 
ed in  this  respect  to  Jewish  usage  under  similar  cir- 
cumstances, "  much  water"  would  be  a  great  con- 
venience for  bathing  their  persons  and  washing  their 
garments  as  preliminary  to  the  ordinance  of  baptism. 
In  the  volume  already  referred  to  (Taylor's  Apos- 
tolic Daptism,)  there  are  found  twelve  engravings 
taken  from  different  churches  in  the  east,  some  of 
them  bearing  date  as  early  as  A.  D.  401  and  454; 
which  represent  our  blessed  Savior,  the  Emperor 
Constantine,  and  others  in  the  act  of  receiving  bap- 
tism. From  these  cuts  it  appears  that  the  candidate 
for  baptism  first  bathed  himself  in  water,  and  then 
baptism  was  administered  by  pouring  or  sprinkling. 
In  several  of  them  the  person  receiving  the  ordi- 
nance is  represented  as  standing  in  a  vase  up  to  the 
waste  in  water,  (Christ  is  standing  in  the  Jordan,) 
and  the  administrator  is  sprinkling  or  pouring  water 
on  the  head.  In  one  of  them  the  candidate  has  left 
the  vase  in  which  he  seems  to  have  bathed  himself, 
and  is  kneeling  near  it  receiving  upon  his  head  the 
baptismal  water.  Where  did  the  christians  of  those 
times  obtain  this  idea?  May  they  not  have  received 
it  from  the  Apostles?  If  so,  and  if  the  Apostles 
conformed  in  this  respect  to  John  the  Baptist,  and 
John  conformed  to  the  Mosaic  ritual  with  regard  to 
ceremonial  cleansing;  most  of  those  words  and  phra- 
ses which  appear  to  favor  immersion,  can  be  easily 
explained  by  referring  them  to  this  preparatory  bath- 
ing.    Though  it  is  not  certain  that  even  that  was 


42 

performed  by  immersing  the  whole  body,  it  was  an 
approximation  to  it,  and  hence  it  might  become  the 
basis  of  some  allusions  in  the  sacred  writings  con- 
nected with  the  ordinance  of  baptism  which  appear 
to  favor  immersion. 

It  may  also  give  us  a  clue  to  the  manner  in  which 
immersion  began  to  be  practiced  in  administering 
the  ordinance  of  baptism.  This  preparatory  bath- 
ing was  confounded  with  the  ordinance  itself,  and 
substituted  for  it,  and  the  sprinkling  or  pouring  of 
water  which  succeeded  the  other  was  laid  aside. 
And  yet  if  we  reason  from  the  analogy  of  the  case, 
that  which  was  thus  laid  aside  is  essential  to  the  or- 
dinance, without  which  the  bathing  of  the  flesh  or 
the  immersion  of  the  body  (supposing  this  to  have 
been  the  mode  of  performing  it,)  is  to  be  accounted 
as  nothing.  We  do  not  affirm  that  immersion  is 
invalid ;  and  yet  we  would  much  sooner  undertake 
to  prove  it  than  to  prove  sprinkUng  or  pouring  to 
be  so. 

The  phrase  "  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism," 
may  require  one  or  two  remarks.  The  first  is  that 
if  the  mode  of  baptism  is  referred  to,  as  some  sup- 
pose, then  I  should  be  inclined  to  the  opinion  that 
sprinkling  and  not  immersion  is  the  onl}^  proper  way 
of  administering  that  ordinance.  I  consider  the  evi- 
dence contained  in  the  bible  in  favor  of  sprinkling 
to  be  ten  fold  stronger  than  for  any  other  mode. 
But  secondly,  it  is  clear  from  another  text  of  scrip- 
ture that  no  reference  is  had  to  the  mode.  It  is  de- 
clared in  Heb.  9:  10,  that  there  were  divers  modes 


43 

of  baptism :  "  which  stood  only  in  meats  and  drinks 
and  divers  washings" — Gr.  divers  baptisms.  This 
shows  that  the  ordinance  may  be  properly  adminis- 
tered in  more  ways  than  one ;  which  could  not  be 
the  case  if  the  passage  under  consideration  referred 
to  the  mode.  The  meaning  of  the  passage  is  suffi- 
ciently explained  by  another  penned  by  the  same 
Apostle.  "Now  this  I  say  that  every  one  of  you 
saith  I  am  of  Paul;  and  I  of  Appollos;  and  I  of 
Cephas;  and  I  of  Christ.  Is  Christ  divided?  was 
Paul  crucified  for  you ;  or  were  ye  baptised  in  the 
name  of  Paul?"  Surely  not — "There  is  one  Lord, 
one  faith,  one  baptism."  Paul  never  baptized  in  his 
own  name;  nor  did  Apolios  or  Peter — but  in  the 
name  of  Christ.  \Yhat  room  was  there  then  for 
division?  The  apostles  had  not  certainly  given  oc- 
casion for  it — because  their  preaching  and  their  ad- 
ministration of  the  ordinances,  pointed  invariably 
not  to  themselves,  but  to  Christ,  who  is  all  9-nd  in 
alL     Compare  Eph,  4:  3-5,  with  1  Cor,  1  :  12,  13, 

Again,  the  phrase  "  having  our  bodies  washed 
with  pure  water,"  should  not  be  unnoticed.  "  Hav- 
ing our  hearts  sprinkled  from  an  evil  conscience  and 
our  bodies  washed  with  pure  water."  Heb.  10  :  22. 
Upon  this  we  remark  ; 

1st.  That  the  term  "  icashcd^''  is  very  general,  and 
is  consistent  with  any  mode  of  applying  the  water. 
But  in  the  present  instance  the  preceding  clause  ap- 
pears to  fix  its  meaning:  "Having  our  hearts  sprin- 
kled, &c,"  This  requires  us  on  the  principle  of 
analogy  to  understand  the  washing  of  the  body  ia 
the  last  clause  to  be  by  sprinkling. 


44 

2d.  The  use  of  the  word  ^^bodics^^  forms  no  valid 
objection  to  this  interpretation.  By  a  common 
fi;^ure  of  speech  called  synecdoche,  the  whole  of  a 
thing  is  often  emplojxd  to  express  a  part  and  a  part 
is  taken  for  the  whole;  according  to  which,  the  body 
may  be  said  to  be  washed  when  water  has  been  ap- 
plied only  to  some  part  of  it.  As  an  example  of 
this  see  Mat.  2G  :  7-12,  and  Mark  14  :  3-8.  A  wo- 
man brought  an  alabaster  box  of  precious  ointment 
and  poured  it  on  Christ's  head.  The  Savior  com- 
mended her  for  this  pious  act,  and  said  "  She  is 
come  before  hand  to  anoint  my  body  to  the  burying." 
Notice,  she  poured  it  on  Christ's  head;  but  he  said  it 
was  poured  on  his  bodi/,  because  the  head  is  the  prin- 
cipal part  of  the  body.  For  this  reason  the  fore- 
head is  the  most  appropriate  place  to  sprinkle  or 
pour  the  water  in  the  administration  of  baptism. 
Perhaps  this  is  the  foundation  of  those  allusions  in 
Rev.  14  :  1  and  22  :  4  ;  where  the  one  hundred  and 
forty-four  thousand  ^vhom  John  saw  on  Mount  Zion 
in  company  with  the  Lamb,  had  "his  Fathers  name 
vvritten  in  their  foreheads."  Again :  we  may  employ 
the  word  "  bodies,"  without  a  figure,  and  still  under- 
stand  ^'  u^ashed  "  in  the  sense  of  sprinkle.  Water 
Bprinklcd  or  poured  on  the  head,  if  done  profusely, 
will  flow  down  upon  the  body ;  in  which  case  the 
body  may  be  said  to  be  washed  as  truly  in  a  reli- 
gious sense  as  though  it  were  performed  by  immer- 
sion. Thus  it  was  in  the  anointing  of  the  Jewish 
high  priest,  allusion  to  which  is  made  by  the  Psalm- 
ist, to  illustrate  the  delightful  duty  of  brotherly  love: 


45 

''  It  is  like  the  precious  ointment  upon  the  head,  that 
ran  down  upon  the  beard,  even  Aaron's  beard,  that 
went  down  to  the  skirts  of  his  garments."  Psalm 
133:  2. 

VIII.  A  consideration  of  the  phrase  "  Buried  with 
him  by  baptism. 

The  phrase  "  buried  with  him  by  baptism  "  occurs 
in  two  places,  viz  :  Rom.  6  :  4,  and  Col.  2  :  12  ;  and 
is  very  often  referred  to  to  prove  the  necessity  of 
immersion. 

1.  It  is  supposed  by  some  to  show  that  Christ  was 
immersed  ;  and  that  therefore  we  cannot  be  properly 
baptized  in  any  other  mode.  But  so  far  from  prov- 
ing that  Christ  was  baptized  by  immersion,  his  bap- 
tism is  not  the  subject  of  discourse,  but  their  bap- 
tism into  Christ.  Nor  is  Christ's  baptism  referred  to 
even  by  way  of  allusion.  The  imagery  employed 
does  not  lead  us  to  the  river  Jordan,  but  to  Mount 
Calvary.  Christ's  death  on  the  cross  and  his  burial 
in  the  grave,  together  with  his  resurrection  from  the 
dead,  and  not  his  baptism,  are  the  circumstances 
alluded  to  by  the  apostle ;  and  from  these  circum- 
stances the  whole  figure  is  borrowed.  This  is  man- 
ifest from  a  moment's  examination  of  the  passage 
with  its  connection.  But  if  it  should  be  insisted  that 
Christ's  baptism  in  some  sense  of  the  word  must  be 
referred  to,  we  observe  that  his  sufferings  and  death 
are  denominated  baptism.  "  I  have  a  baptism  said 
he  to  be  baptized  with ;  and  how  am  I  straitened  till 
it  be  accomplished  ?"  Luke  12  :  50.  See  also  Mark 
10  :  38,  39.     In  these  texts  his  sufferings  in  the  gar- 


46 

den  and  on  the  cross  are  evidently  referred  to ;  and 
they  confirm  the  opinion  which  we  have  advanced ; 
since  they  show  that  if  the  word  baptism  in  the 
phrase  under  consideration  refers  to  Christ  at  all,  it 
is  used  in  a  figurative  sense,  and  alludes  to  the  ago- 
nies both  of  body  and  soul  which  he  endured  in  his 
last  moments.  All  that  we  intend  in  the  preceding 
remarks  is  that  no  allusion  is  made  to  his  baptism 
by  water.  This  is  indeed  acknowledged  by  some, 
who  nevertheless  rely  upon  the  passage  to  prove  im- 
mersion.    By  such  it  is  supposed, 

2.  To  furnish  evidence  concerning  the  design  of 
baptism ;  which  is,  say  they,  to  exhibit  the  burial  and 
resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ;  audit  ought  therefore, 
in  order  to  be  analogous  to  the  thing  signified,  to  be 
performed  by  immersion.  But  if  baptism  is  design- 
ed to  exhibit  Christ's  burial  and  resurrection,  there 
was  in  the  church  a  standing  memorial  of  those 
events  for  several  years  before  they  took  place ; 
which,  unless  baptism  was  a  type,  would  have  been 
absurd.  And  if  it  was  a  type,  then  what  was  the 
propriety  of  continuing  it,  after  the  occurring  of  the 
events  which  it  typified  ?  And  farther ;  if  that  was 
the  design  of  it,  then  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper 
signify  nearl}^  the  same  thing;  and  the  practice  of 
both  of  them  at  the  same  time  is  therefore  superflu- 
ous. The  idea  is  likewise  refuted  by  the  general 
language  of  scripture,  which  does  not  favor  such  a 
sentiment,  but  gives  an  entirely  difierent  view  of  the 
design  of  baptism.     But  again, 

3.  This  phrase  is  supposed  to  prove  that  the  Ro- 


CHRIST'S  CRUCIFIXION. 


49 

man  and  Colossian  Christians  were  baptized  by  im- 
mersion ;  and  if  so,  then  this  must  have  been  the 
primitive  mode.  Suppose  we  admit  that  im- 
mersion was  practiced  in  primitive  times,  and  allow 
this  text  to  afford  proof  of  it,  it  would  not  follow  that 
immersion  was  the  only  mode  practiced  in  those 
times;  and  of  course  this  text  cannot  be  adduced  to 
prove  that  immersion  is  the  only  and  exclusive  mode, 
which  it  is  proper  to  use  at  the  present  time. 

But  what  if  it  should  appear  that  the  apostle  has 
no  reference  to  the  mode  ?  The  connection  as  it 
stands  in  Romans  is  as  follows :  "  Know  ye  not  that 
so  many  of  us  as  were  baptized  into  Jesus  Christ 
were  baptized  into  his  death?  Therefore  we  are 
buried  with  him  by  baptism  into  death ;  that  like  as 
Christ  was  raised  up  from  the  dead  by  the  glory  of 
the  Father,  even  so  we  also  should  walk  in  newness 
of  life.  For  if  we  have  been  planted  together  in  the 
likeness  of  his  death,  we  shall  be  also  in  the  like- 
ness of  his  resurrection.  Knowing  this  that  our  old 
man  is  crucified  with  him,  that  the  body  of  sin 
might  be  destroyed,  that  henceforth  we  should  not 
serve  sin."  A  careful  perusal  of  this  passage  will 
show  that  we  are  not  to  look  to  it  for  the  mode  of 
administering  the  ordinance  of  baptism,  but  for  the 
solemn  obligations  which  it  imposes  upon  those  who 
receive  it  to  be  dead  to  sin  and  alive  unto  God. 
The  apostle's  design  in  referring  to  their  baptism  at 
all,  was  to  furnish  a  strong  dissuasive  against  their 
living  in  sin ;  which  would  lead  him  to  speak  not  of 
the  mode  of  baptism  but  of  its  nature  and  import. 


^0 

This  fact  alone  ivill  account  for  the  character  of  the 
figure  here  used,  and  assist  us  to  understand  it.  If 
he  had  intended  to  refer  to  the  mode,  we  can  hardly 
suppose  tliat  he  would  have  drawn  his  figure  from 
Christ's  sufTeiings  and  burial.  What  resemblance 
has  any  mode  of  baptism  by  water,  to  the  exquisite 
agony  and  death  of  our  Savior  on  the  cross?  But 
if  the  nature  and  obligations  of  baptism  were  the 
theme  of  discourse,  the  figure  was  well  chosen  and 
highly  striking.  Nor  can  we  conceive  how  the  mode 
of  baptism  could  be  urged  as  a  motive  to  induce  be- 
lievers to  forsake  sin.  But  a  reference  to  its  spiritu- 
al import  was  exactly  in  point. 

The  language  here  employed  seems  to  denote  that 
water  baptism  administered  in  any  form  is  not  the 
chief  thing  referred  to,  but  the  baptism  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  The  baptism  here  spoken  of  is  represented 
as  resulting  in  the  destruction  of  the  body  of  sin  and 
their  walking  in  newness  of  life — in  the  crucifixion 
and  burial  (called  here  ''planting,")  of  the  old  man, 
and  the  resurrection  or  renewal  of  the  soul  to  a  spir- 
itual and  holy  life.  ]Now  such  a  baptism  it  is  evi- 
dent cannot  be  water  baptism  solely;  for  this  pos- 
sesses no  such  efficacy.  It  is  however  consistent 
with  the  usual  language  of  scripture  to  include  both; 
the  one  expressing  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon 
their  hearts  in  their  conversion  and  partial  sanctifi- 
cation,  and  the  other  their  solemn  duty  and  engage- 
ment to  be  entirely  devoted  to  the  Lord.  In  each  of 
these  senses,  the  manner  in  which  the  subject  is 
treated,  was  calculated  to  produce  a  powerful  eflect 
upon  their  minds. 


CHRIST'S  BURIAL. 


5a 


S3 

4.  A  very  few  remarks  will  now  be  sufficient  to 
shew  the  import  and  propriety  of  the  phrase  under 
consideration.  To  the  death  of  Christ  succeeded  his 
burial.  It  was  perfectly  natural  therefore  for  the 
apostle,  after  having  spoken  of  the  former  to  advert 
to  the  latter — which  wa?  a  continuation  of  the  figure 
that  he  had  begun;  and  necessary  in  order  to  com- 
plete it.  "  Know  ye  not  that  so  many  of  us  as  were 
baptized  into  Jesus  Christ  were  baptized  into  his 
death  ?  Therefore  we  are  buried  with  him  by  bap- 
tism into  death.''''  The  latter  is  mentioned  as  a  con- 
sequence of  the  former.  "  Therefore,"  i.  e.  because 
we  were  baptized  into  his  death — were  brought  by 
our  baptism  under  the  most  solemn  obligations  to 
die  unto  sin,  in  the  same  manner  as  he  died  for  it; 
"therefore"  we  are  to  be  considered  henceforth  by 
profession  and  engagement,  as  completely  crucified 
to  the  world  with  its  affections  and  lusts,  as  though 
we  had  been  buried  with  Christ  in  the  grave.  Burial 
is  a  token  that  the  person  is  considered  to  be  really 
dead.  The  apostle  therefore  alludes  to  it  in  order  to 
give  additional  strength  to  the  figure,  asserting  there- 
by that  unless  their  profession  of  religion  was  hypo- 
critical they  were  in  fact  as  well  as  by  engagement 
"dead  to  sin." 

And  farther;  as  Christ's  burial  was  succeeded  by 
his  resurrection  to  a  holy  and  exalted  life  in  heaven, 
BO  they  were  baptized  into  his  death  and  burial,  that 
the  old  man  of  sin  being  destroyed,  they  might  live 
a  new  life  of  holiness.     "  Let  not  sin  therefore  reign 


54 

in  your  mortal  body,  that  ye  sliould  obey  it  in  the 
lusts  thereof.  How  shall  we  that  are  dead  to  sin 
live  any  longer  therein  ?" — v.  1  and  12.  Such,  if  we 
understand  it,  is  the  import  of  the  Apostle's  reason- 
ing. And  what  more  forcible  exhortation  could  he 
have  given  to  influence  those  whom  he  addressed  to 
live  holy  lives?  Christian  professor,  will  you  not 
consider  the  exhortation  as  addressed  to  j'Ou;  and 
strive  every  day  of  your  lile  to  put  it  into  practice. 
To  conclude  this  part  of  the  subject,  we  remark 
that  the  preceding  discussion  shows  how^  little  rea- 
son those  who  advocate  immersion  as  the  exclusive 
mode  of  baptism,  have  for  that  confidence  which 
they  generally  manifest  on  this  subject;  as  though 
it  was  perfectly  plain  that  they  are  right  and  every 
body  else  is  wrong.  In  order  to  substantiate  their 
sentiments,  they  must  prove  not  merely  that  immer- 
sion was  sometimes  or  even  generally  practiced  in 
primitive  times ;  but  always  without  a  single  excep- 
tion— not  merely  that  the  scriptures  favor  immersion 
more  than  any  other  mode ;  but  that  they  teach  that 
mode  alone,  while  they  furnish  no  support  for  any 
other — not  merely  that  immersion  is  to  be  preferred 
and  therefore  practiced  rather  than  any  other  mode ; 
but  that  it  is  essential  to  the  validity  of  the  ordi- 
nance— and  consequently  that  those  who  have  been 
baptized  in  any  other  way  are  to  be  considered  and 
treated  as  unbaptized  persons  until  they  are  immer- 
sed. If  it  can  be  proved  that  a  single  person  was 
ever  sprinkled  by  the  apostles,  their  system  is  de- 


55 

stroyed.  If  it  can  be  shown  from  the  general  Ian-  * 
guage  of  scripture  that  any  other  mode  is  valid, 
even  though  no  example  of  baptism  by  any  such 
mode  could  be  adduced,  this  would  also  be  sufficient 
to  destroy  their  scheme.  And  has  not  such  evidence 
been  adduced?  We  do  not  profess  to  have  answer- 
ed every  question  which  may  be  asked  in  relation  to 
this  subject — nor  to  have  solved  every  difficulty  that 
may  arise  in  the  mind  of  the  reader.  This  was  im- 
practicable, unless  we  had  extended  our  remarks  be- 
yond the  limits  which  we  prescribed  for  ourselves. 
But  the  prominent  things  have  been  stated  on  both 
sides ;  and  we  are  persuaded  that  enough  has  been 
said  to  satisfy  every  unprejudiced  reader  that  those 
who  have  adopted  the  practice  of  sprinkling  or  pour- 
ing in  preference  to  immersion,  have  not  done  so 
without  some. reason.  There  U  at  least  sufficient 
proof  in  favor  of  sprinlding,  to  warrant  us  in  de- 
manding of  the  advocates  of  exclusive  immersion, 
to  manifest  a  little  less  confidence  in  their  own  sen- 
timents, and  a  little  more  respect  for  the  opinion  of 
others.  As  long  as  so  much  evidence  exists  in  favor 
of  sprinkling  we  cannot  but  think  it  a  little  arrogant 
in  them  to  consider  themselves  as  the  only  church 
that  is  established  agreeably  to  "  gospel  order,"  and 
to  treat  all  others,  though  they  may  acknowledge 
them  to  be  associations  of  true  believers,  as  being 
nevertheless  without  the  pale  of  the  visible  church, 
and  not  entitled  to  the  privilege  of  christian  com- 
munion. 


56 

So  far  indeed  are  the  scriptures  from  proving  im- 
mersion to  be  the  exclusive  mode,  that  in  our  opinion 
it  cannot  be  positively  proved  from  the  bible,  that 
baptism  was  ever  administered  in  that  way.  This 
w^e  think  will  appear  by  a  recurrence  to  those  texts 
which  are  relied  upon  to  prove  immersion,  and  which 
we  have  considered  in  the  preceding  pages.  Those 
therefore  who  generally  practice  sprinkling  have  as 
much  reason  to  adopt  this  as  the  only  proper  mode, 
and  to  exclude  from  their  communion  all  who  prac- 
tice immersion,  as  the  latter  have  to  exclude  the  for- 
mer. 

But  we  would  rather  conciliate  than  censure  those 
with  whom  we  differ  on  this  subject.  Though  in  this 
particular  we  consider  them  as  being  in  an  error,  we 
nevertheless  regard  them  as  Christians;  and  we  will 
cherish  towards  them  those  kind  and  fraternal  feel- 
ings which  ought  ever  to  exist  between  members  of 
the  same  family.  If  they  reciprocate  these  feehngs 
we  shall  rejoice.  But  if  it  shall  be  otherwise,  we 
will  remember  that  they  belong  to  the  same  brother- 
hood of  Christ  with  ourselves,  and  will  still  love 
them  and  co-operate  with  them,  so  far  as  it  is  prac- 
ticable, in  the  advancement  of  his  kingdom — believ- 
ing that  in  proportion  as  we  become  holy  and  in- 
crease in  the  knowledge  of  God,  we  shall  approx- 
imate towards  each  other  in  christian  fellowship, 
until  in  heaven,  if  not  before,  "the  middle  wall  of 
partition  between  us"  will  be  completely  broken 
down,  an  J   we  shall  stand  together  in  the  "holy 


57 


place"  of  the  celestial  temple,  offer  our  sacrifices  of 
praise  upon  the  same  altar,  eat  of  the  same  "peace 
offerings,"  and  emulate  each  other  in  nothing  else 
but  in  devout  adoration  before  the  throne  of  God 
and  the  Lamb. 


NOTE. 

[This  note  should  have  been  inserted  on  the  9th  page,  in  connection 
with  the  statement  of  the  argument  witii  regard  to  the  design  of  Chiist's 
baptism.] 

"In  the  relation  of  his  offices  to  one  another,"  says  Dr.  Dick,  "the 
priestly  office  must  be  considered  as  the  foundaiion  ot  the  other  two.  If 
Christ  had  not  been  a  piiest,  he  would  not  iiave  been  a  prophet  and  a 
king;  it  being  evident  that,  unless  salvation  hiid  been  obtained  ibr  us, 
it  could  not  be  revealed  and  applied.  All  his  acts  towards  sinners  for 
their  deliverance  from  sin,  and  their  restoration  to  the  favor  of  God, 
pre-suppose  an  atonement  by  which  Divine  Justice  was  satisfied.  It 
was  necessary  that,  as  a  priest,  he  should  fulfil  the  condition  of  the  new 
covenant,  before  he  could  administer  it  as  a  prophet  and  a  king,  for  the 
communication  of  its  blessii  gs.''  Such  being  the  relation  of  his  offices 
to  each  other,  there  was  no  necessity  of  his  receiving  a  distinct  and  sep- 
arate consecration  to  all  of  them,  because  his  induction  into  the  priest's 
office  virtually  introduced  him  also  to  the  other  two.  Indeed  the  unc- 
ticn  which  he  received  from  the  Holy  Spirit  was  equally  adapted  to  his 
three  offices ;  for  kings  and  prophets  as  well  as  priests  were  among  the 
Jews  sometimes  anointed  with  oil.  So  it  was  predicted  of  Chiist  that  he 
Bhould,  by  one  and  the  same  act  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  be  anointed  to  all 
these  offices.  See  Ps.  45:  7,  Isa  61:  1,  and  Dan.  9:  14.  But  his  baptism 
which  formed  a  part  of  his  consecration  to  his  official  work  as  the 
Mesiah,  has  no  cou7iler-pan  in  the  Old  Testament,  except  as  it  is  found 
in  the  ceremony  ol  consecration  to  the  office  of  priest. 


PART  II. 

ARE    THE    CHILDREN    OF     BELIEVING    PARENTS    PROPER    SUB- 
JECTS   OF    CHRISTIAN    BAPTISM. 

We  are  often  told  by  those  who  do  not  practice 
infant  baptism,  "  Show  us  a  thus  saith  the  Lord  for 
it,  point  us  to  the  chapter  and  veree  where  it  is  said 
'  let  infants  be  baptized,'  and  we  will  believe  in  the 
doctrine ;  but  until  you  do  this,  you  must  not  blame 
us  for  rejecting  it." 

Now,  though  we  cannot  find  a  passage  in  which 
the  duty  of  baptizing  infants  is  enjoined  by  express 
positive  precept,  we  can  arrive  at  this  conclu- 
sion by  a  process  which  indicates  as  clearly  the  will 
of  God  as  though  it  were  expressed  in  the  form  of 
a  positive  law.  It  is  not  said  in  so  many  words  that 
we  ought  to  observe  the  first  day  of  the  week  as  the 
christian  sabbath,  and  yet  nearly  all  who  profess  to 
receive  the  Ijible  as  a  revelation  from  God,  agree 
that  his  will  with  regard  to  this  point  is  taught  with 
sufficient  clearness  to  render  the  observance  of  that 
day  obligatory  on  all  mankind.  Why  should  we  be 
less  willing  to  abide  by  the  same  method  of  ascer- 
taining his  will  in  the  former  case  than  in  the  latter? 
The  question  with  us  ought  to  be,  what  are  the 
teachings  of  God's  word?  without  presuming  to  pre- 
scribe to  him  in  what  terms  he  shall  communicate 

his  will.     It  w^as  for  him  alone  and  not  for  us  to  de- 
6 


60 

cide  the  form  and  manner  of  revealing  the  doctrines 
and  duties  recorded  in  the  sacred  scriptures;  it  is 
ours  to  study  reverently  and  diligently  what  his 
Spirit  has  indited,  and  by  whatever  method  those 
doctrines  and  duties  are  found  to  be  taught,  whether 
in  direct  positive  language,  or  by  plain,  necessary 
inference,  we  are  bound  to  receive  them.  To  feel 
and  act  otherwise  is  as  unreasonable  as  the  conduct 
of  Thomas,  who  declared  that  he  would  not  be  con- 
vinced unless  he  could  see  with  his  own  eyes  the 
print  of  the  nails  in  his  Savior's  hands  and  thrust 
his  hand  into  his  side.  Fair  and  legitimate  infer- 
ence is  as  valid  and  conclusive  in  its  teachings,  and 
hence  as  obligatory  upon  us  as  any  other  mode  of 
instruction.  But  this  is  only  one  aspect  of  the  sub- 
ject. Though  we  claim  that  inferential  evidence  is 
sufficient  to  establish  this  or  any  other  article  of 
faith  or  practice,  yet  as  our  Baptist  brethren  call 
for  a  positive  command,  we  are  willing  to  meet  them 
on  their  own  ground,  as  to  the  foundation  principle 
on  which  the  ordinance  of  infant  baptism  rests.  In 
iavor  of  the  doctrine  of  infant  church  membership, 
we  have  a  thus  saith  the  Lord ;  we  can  point  to  the 
chapter  and  verse ;  and  until  they  can  adduce  some 
other  passage  of  scripture  affording  either  positive 
or  clear  inferential  proof  that  this  kind  of  member- 
ship has  been  abolished,  they  must  not  think  it 
strange  if  we  adhere  to  the  doctrine,  attach  impor- 
tance to  it,  and  insist  upon  having  it  carried  out  in 
practice,  by  that  sacramental  sign  or  seal  of  mem- 
bership which  Christ  instituted  for  the  church  under 


61 

the  gospel  dispensation.  We  proceed  to  adduce, 

I.  Evidence  in  favor  of  infant  baptism  from  the  identi- 
ty of  the  old  and  new  testament  cluirch,  and  the  ac- 
knowledged membership  of  infants  in  the  former. 

We  prove  the  identity  of  the  church  under  the  old 
and  new  testament  dispensation, 

1st.  From  the  fact  that  the  Scriptures  uniformly 
speak  of  the  church  in  the  singular  number,  except 
when  referring  to  particular  local  organizations;  and 
when  mention  is  made  of  those  local  churches  it  is 
in  such  language  as  distinctly  conveys  the  idea  that 
they  are  different  parts  of  "  one  body,  the  church." 
The  same  is  true  with  regard  to  successive  periods 
of  time.  Though  the  word  church  does  not  occur 
we  believe  in  the  English  version  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, it  is  found  in  the  ISew  where  the  Old  Testa- 
ment church  is  referred  to,  and  without  the  slightest 
intimation  that  a  different  ecclesiastical  body  was 
meant  from  that  of  which  the  Apostles  and  primitive 
Chi'istians  were  themselves  members.  Thus  the 
Pentecostal  church  "  to  which  the  Lord  added  daily 
such  as  should  be  saved"  (Acts  2:  47)  was  a  contin- 
uation of  the  same  body  w^hich  is  called  (Acts  7:  38) 
"the  church  in  the  wilderness." 

2d.  From  the  nature  and  perpetuity  of  the  Abra- 
Ijamic  covenant  under  which  the  Old  Testament 
church  was  constituted. — See  Gen.  17:  7-10.  This 
covenant  was  called  by  God  an  everlasting  cove- 
nant; was  designed  to  have  its  chief  fulfilment  in 
gospel  times  and  was  essentially  the  same  in  its 
character  as  that  which  binds  together  professing 


62 

Christians  now.  It  was  moreover  neither  abrogated 
by  the  law  of  Moses  nor  by  the  Gospel  dispensation, 
and  consequently  is  in  force  at  the  present  day. 

We  do  not  maintain  that  God  had  no  church  in 
the  world  prior  to  the  covenant  made  with  Abraham,* 
but  only  that  that  covenant  bound  together  the  faith- 
ful few  who  had  been  called  out  to  separate  them- 
selves from  an  idolatrous  world  by  firmer  and  more 
sacred  ties  ;  and  brought  them  and  their  households 
into  a  new  and  more  solemn  ecclesiastical  relation 
than  had  ever  existed  before;  which  arrangement 
was  designed  to  be  permanent  and  to  connect  the 
ancient  vrith  the  Christian  church  in  a  way  that  had 
never  been  done  by  any  previous  transaction.  In 
accordance  with  this  statement  we  find  Peter  (Acts 
3:  13-25-2G)  and  Stephen  (Acts  7:  2-8)  commenc- 
ing their  recital  of  the  former  history  of  God's  people 
with  the  name  of  Abraham,  and  connecting  it  and 
also  the  covenant  above  referred  to  with  the  advent 
of  the  jNIesiah,  and  with  those  extraordinary  events 
which  were  occurring  on  and  after  the  day  of  Pen- 
tecost. 

The  Abrahamic  covenant  was  a  bond  not  of  civil 
or  national  but  ecclesiastical  union.  This  is  ren- 
dered certain  by  the  fact  that  for  several  hundred 
years  afler  it  was  made,  the  seed  of  Abraham  did 
not  exist  as  a  nation.  It  was  just  such  a  bond  as 
unites  together  the  members  of  the  visible  church 
under  the  Christian  dispensation.     Its  essence  con- 

*  We  suppose  it  commenced  in  the  family  of  Adam. 


ABRAHAM  ENTERING  INTO  COVENANT 
\YITII  GOD. 


Gen.   17:   I-IO. 


6a 


65 

sisted  in  requiring  of  all  adults  who  came  under  it  a 
profession  of  the  true  faith,  with  a  gracious  and  in- 
valuable promise  on  the  part  of  God  corresponding 
with  this  their  profession ;  which  two  things  form  the 
substance  of  what  is  required  and  promised  in  the 
New  Testament  church.  "And  he  (Abraham)  re- 
ceived the  sign  of  circumcision,  a  seal  of  the  righteous- 
ness of  the  faith  which  he  had  yet  being  uncircum- 
cised."  Rom.  4:  11.  Here  was  Abraham's  profes- 
sion of  faith,  corresponding  with  which  was  God's 
promise  "to  be  a  God  to  him  and  his  seed  after 
him."  Gen.  17:  7.  Take  now  an  example  from 
the  New  Testament.  "  See  here  is  water,"  said  the 
Eunuch  to  Philip,  "what  doth  hinder  me  to  be  bap- 
tized? And  Philip  said.  If  thou  helicvest  with  all  thine 
heart  thou  jnaycstP  Acts  8 :  36-37.  Here  baptism 
is  manifestly  the  seal  of  the  same  faith  which  was 
sealed  by  circumcision  in  the  case  of  Abraham.  We 
find  also  in  the  New  Testament  the  same  promise 
as  that  which  was  made  to  the  father  of  the  faithful. 
"  This  is  the  covenant  that  I  will  make," — saith  the 
Lord — "  I  will  be  to  them  a  God  and  they  shall  be 
to  me  a  people."  Heb.  8:  10.  This  language  is 
precisely  the  same  as  that  used  in  the  Abrahamic 
covenant,  and  is  intended  to  carry  out  its  provisions; 
that  covenant  having  been  designed  to  secure  the 
perpetuity  of  the  church  either  among  the  Jews  or 
Gentiles,  or  both  together,  till  the  end  of  time. 

That  the  Abrahamic  covenant  was  a  distinct  cov- 
enant from  that  made  at  Sinai  of  which  Moses  was 
the  mediator,  and  was  not  affected  either  by  the  giv- 


66 

ing  or  the  abrogation  of  the  latter,  is  evident  from 
the  fact  that  the  gospel  covenant  mentioned  in  the 
text  just  quoted  (Heb.  8:  10)  is  contrasted  with  the 
Sinai  or  national  covenant  (see  verse  9th)  and  not 
with  the  covenant  made  with  Abraham ;  concerning 
which  Paul  says  (Gal.  3 :  17)  "that  the  covenant, 
that  was  confirmed  before  of  God  in  Christ,  the  law, 
which  was  four  hundred  and  thirty  years  after,  cannot 
disannid  that  it  should  make  the  promise  of  none  ef- 
fect." The  national  or  Sinai  covenant  with  which 
were  connected  their  priesthood,  and  their  numerous 
ceremonial  observances,  was  temporary,  to  be  done 
away  when  the  New  Testament  dispensation  should 
be  introduced;  but  the  Abrahamic  covenant  was  de- 
clared at  the  time  of  its  being  made  to  be  '■Everlast- 
ing ;^^  it  possessed  in  its  very  nature  the  elements  of 
permanency  and  could  not  be  abrogated  by  the 
shadowy  and  evanescent  ritual  of  Moses. 

Since  then  the  ceremonial  law  did  not  affect  it  so 
as  to  make  the  two  stand  or  fall  together ;  neither 
was  it  annulled  by  the  gospel.  If,  as  we  have  seen, 
it  so  resembled  the  gospel  as  to  be  essential^  the 
same  with  it  in  its  requirements  and  promises,  how 
could  the  one  have  been  annulled  by  the  other? 
We  might  say  that  the  one  succeeded  the  other,  but 
what  would  this  amount  to  ?  It  would  be  like  de- 
claring that  two  men  entered  into  covenant  many 
years  ago  and  that  they  have  now  made  a  new  one 
which  is  essentially  the  same  as  the  former.  Who 
would  not  say  in  such  a  case  that  the  latter  is  in 
reality  the  former  covenant  re-enacted?    Precisely 


i 


ABRAHAM  REJOICING  TO  SEE  CHRIST'S 

DAYar. 


John  8:  56. 


69 

of  this  kind  is  the  relation  between  the  New  Testa- 
ment covenant  and  that  made  with  Abraham.  "Ye 
are,"  said  Peter  (Acts  3:  25-26,)  "the  children  of  the 
covenant  which  God  made  with  our  fathers,  saying 
unto  Abraham,  'And  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the  kin- 
dreds of  the  earth  be  blessed.  Unto  you  first  God 
having  raised  up  his  Son  Jesus,  sent  him  to  bless 
you,"  &c.  In  the  passage  just  quoted  from  Gala- 
tians  that  covenant  is  said  to  have  been  "  confirmed 
of  God  i?i  Christ;'^  in  this  we  are  told  that  God's 
"  Son  Jesus"  in  whom  it  was  confirmed  was  sent  to 
the  children  of  the  covenant  to  carry  into  effect  its 
main  provisions,  viz :  "to  bless  them,  in  turning  away 
every  one  from  his  iniquities."  How  was  this  done 
except  by  those  redeeming  and  saving  mercies 
which  are  contained  in  the  Gospel  ?  The  gospel 
dispensation  then  is  merely  the  carrying  forward  to 
its  completion  the  great  and  ultimate  design  of  the 
Abrahamic  covenant.  Accordingly  Paul  says  (Gal. 
3 :  8-9)  that  "  the  Scripture,  foreseeing  that  God 
w^ould  justify  the  heathen  through  faith,  preached  be- 
fore tlie  gospel  unto  Abraham,  saying  *  In  thee  shall 
all  nations  be  blessed.'  So  then  they  which  be  of 
faith  are  blessed  with  faithful  Abraham."  Again, 
(verse  29,)  "If  ye  be  Christ's  then  are  ye  Abraham's 
seed  and  heirs  according  to  the  promise."  This  ex- 
plains and  illustrates  those  words  of  Christ,  (John  8: 
56,)  "Abraham  rejoiced  to  see  my  day;  he  saw  it  and 
was  glad." 

3d.  If  farther  proof  is  demanded,  we  find  it  in  the 
i'act  that  when  Christ  disowned  the  Jews  as  a  peo- 


70 

pie  and  excommunicated  them  from  their  church 
privileges  because  they  rejected  him,  he  did  not  tell 
them  that  he  would  form   another  and  a  different 
church,  but  that  the  Gentiles  would  be  introduced 
into  the  same  kingdom  from  which  they  [the  Jews] 
should  be  excluded.     "The  kingdom  of  God  shall 
be  taken  from  you  and  given  to  a  nation  bringing 
forth  the  fruits  thereof."     Mat.  21:  43.     In  like  man- 
ner Paul  (Rom.  11th  chap.)  teaches  with  great  clear- 
ness under  the  figure  of  an  olive  tree  that  the  natu- 
ral branches  [the  Jews]  were  broken  off  and  branch- 
es wild  by  nature  [the  Gentiles]  were  graffed  into 
the  same  olive  tree  [i.  e.  the  same   church]  from 
which  the  former  had  been  excluded.     "  Some  of  the 
branches  he  says  were  broken  off."     Of  course  some 
were  not  broken  off.     Those  Jews  who  believed  in 
Christ  retained  their  standing  in  the  church  and  the 
believing  Gentiles  were  incorporated  with  them, — 
^^ groffcd  in  among  thcm^  to  partake  of  the  root  and 
fatness  of  the  olive  tree;"  (verse  17,)  which  with  re- 
ference to  the  Jews  is  called  (verse  24)  "  their  own 
olive  tree;"  i.  e.  the  church  of  which  their  ancestors 
from  Abraham  to  Christ  had  been  the  favored  mem- 
bers.    Into  this  same  church  he  also  says  that  those 
unbelieving  Jews  who  were  now  under  the  sentence 
ol'  excommunication  shall  be  restored,  when  they  re- 
pent of  their  wickedness  and  embrace  their  long  re- 
jected Messiah.     "And  they  also,  (verse  23)  if  they 
abide  not  in  unbelief,  shall  be  graffed  in,  for  God  is 
able  to  graff  them  in  again."     What  can  be  plainer 
than  this  ?     To  my  own  mind  the  identity  of  the  Old 


71 

and  New  Testament  church  is  here  taught  with  the 
clearness  of  a  sunbeam. 

The  argument  derived  from  this  identity  of  the 
chm'ch  in  favor  of  infant  baptism  may  now  be  very 
soon  disposed  of.  It  is  admitted  by  all  that  infant 
membership  was  universally  recognized  in  the  Old 
Testament  church,  and  that  circumcision  which  was 
the  appointed  sign  and  seal  ot  membership  was 
strictly  enjoined,  with  a  severe  penalty  annexed  in 
case  of  neglect.  It  must  then  be  shown  that  either 
Christ  or  his  Apostles  have  excluded  infants  from 
the  church,  which  cannot  be  done,  or  it  follows  as  a 
necessary  consequence,  that  they  are  as  truly  mem- 
bers now  as  they  were  in  the  time  of  Abraham  and 
Moses,  and  that  being  such,  they  are  entitled  to  be 
so  recognized,  by  the  administration  of  baptism, 
which  is  the  acknowledged  initiatory  ordinance  of 
admission  into  the  church  under  the  Christian  dis- 
pensation. 

II.  Evidence  in  favor  of  infant  baptism  from 
Christ's  treatment  of  little  children. 

The  record  of  what  we  refer  to  is  found  in  Mat. 
19:  14,  Mark  10:  14,  and  Luke  18:15-16.  In  Mat- 
thew it  reads,  "  Then  were  brought  unto  him  little 
children  that  he  should  put  his  hands  on  them  and 
pray;  and  the  disciples  rebuked  them.  But  Jesus 
said,  suffer  little  children  and  forbid  them  not  to 
come  unto  me ;  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
And  he  laid  his  hands  on  them."  Mark  adds,  "  and 
blessed  them."     Before  stating  the  argument  it  is 

necessary  to  observe  that  this  application  to  Christ 

7 


72 

for  his  benediction  upon  these  children  was  not  made 
by  them  but  by  others  in  their  behalf.  They  "  were 
brought."'  It  is  not  said  how  old  they  were,  but 
.Alark  calls  them  "  3'oung  children"  and  Luke  "  in- 
I'ants,"  which  shows  that  they  were  small.  Mark 
also  says  that  Christ  "  took  them  up  in  his  arms," 
which  is  a  farther  indication  of  their  early  age.  It 
might  appear  from  Matthew  that  they  were  old 
enough  to  be  rebuked;  "the  disciples  rebuked  them." 
By  the  word  them  however  he  does  not  mean  the 
children,  but  those  who  brought  them.  In  Mark  it 
is  fully  expressed :  ''  His  disciples  rebuked  those  that 
brought  them."  It  is  clear  therefore  that  they  were 
quite  young :  and  that  they  were  presented  to  Christ 
not  by  themselves  but  by  their  parents,  guardians  or 
other  friends. 

Concerning  these  little  children  Christ  declared, 
"  Of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;"  in  Mark  and 
Luke  the  reading  is  "  the  kingdom  of  God ;"  by 
which  we  understand  him  to  mean  that  the  christian 
church  which  was  soon  to  be  commenced,  and  in 
which  his  disciples  then  present  would  officiate  as 
ministers,  would  be  composed  in  part  of  young  chil- 
dren; and  the  argument  is  that  as  they  are  mem- 
bers of  his  church,  they  are  entitled  to  the  ordinance 
of  baptism,  which  is  the  visible  sign  and  seal  of 
membership  prescribed  by  him.  One  thing  only 
needs  to  be  settled.  If  this  interpretation  of  Christ's 
words,  "of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  be  the 
true  one,  then  the  argument  is  conclusive.  Is  this 
the  sense  of  the  phrase?  We  answer  in  the  affirm- 
ative, because 


73 

1.  The  christian  or  gospel  dispensation  of  the 
church  is  predicted  in  the  Old  Testament  under  the 
name  of  a  kingdom.  See  Dan.  2:  44.  "In  the  days 
of  these  kings  shall  the  God  of  heaven  set  up  a  king- 
dom," &c.  This  is  without  doubt  a  prophecy  of  the 
erection  of  Christ's  kingdom  or  church  on  earth  at 
the  beginning  of  the  gospel  dispensation,  as  distin- 
guished from  the  dispensation  of  the  church  under 
the  Old  Testament. 

2.  Our  blessed  Lord  speaking  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment church  denominates  it  "the  kingdom  of  God,'' 
and  by  what  he  says  in  connexion  with  it  he  also 
virtually  applies  the  same  name  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment church.  "  Therefore  say  I  unto  you  [unbeliev- 
ing Jews]  the  kingdom  of  God  \jo\xY  church  privileges] 
shall  be  taken  from  you  and  given  to  a  nation  [be- 
lieving Gentiles]  bringing  forth  the  fruits  thereof." 
Of  course  the  appelation  kingdom  of  God  which  the 
Jewish  church  formerly  enjoyed,  was  transferred  to 
believing  Gentiles  along  with  its  privileges.  The 
Jewish  church  which  was  designated  by  this  honor- 
able distinction  and  other  similar  ones,  such  as  "  a 
kingdom  of  priests,"  &:c.,  would  be  disinherited  and 
these  names  would  be  appropriated  to  the  christian 
church.  See  1  Ret.  2;  9-10.  Compare  now  this 
appellation,  "kingdom  of  God,"  which  was  given  by 
Christ  to  his  church,  with  what  he  said  concerning 
little  children :  "  Of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  God." 
See  Mark  10:  14,  and  Luke  18:16.  Is  it  not  mani- 
fest that  he  refers  in  both  cases  to  the  same  rehgious 
community. 


74 

3.  John  the  Baptist  and  soon  afterwards  Christ 
himself  commenced  their  pubUc  ministry  by  the  an- 
nouncement, *' Repent,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is 
at  hand."  See  Mat.  3:  2,  and  4:  17.  By  this  king- 
dom it  is  very  obvious  they  meant  the  spiritual  reign 
of  the  Messiah  on  earth;  or  which  is  the  same  thing, 
a  new  dispensation  of  the  visible  church,  which  was 
about  to  be  introduced  under  the  ministry  of  Christ 
and  his  Apostles.  Let  this  again  be  collated  with 
the  language  employed  by  Christ  concerning  little 
children:  "Of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Mat. 
19:  14.  Is  it  in  the  smallest  degree  probable  that 
Christ  alludes  in  these  two  examples  to  different 
things?  If  not  then  it  follows  that  in  that  kingdom 
of  heaven,  the  gospel  church,  vrhich  he  said  in  his 
preaching  was  then  at  hand,  little  children  would  be 
recognized  as  members. 

May  not  the  reason  why  Christ  was  displeased 
with  his  disciples  for  rebuking  those  who  brought  to 
him  these  children,  have  been,  because  they  evinced 
by  their  conduct  that  they  entertained  erroneous  and 
unworthy  views  concerning  the  design  of  his  mission 
into  our  world;  regarding  him  as  a  temporal  king  to 
whom  the  office  of  blessing  the  people  did  not  be- 
long. Mark  says,  "  he  was  much  displeased."  The 
object  in  bringing  them  to  him  was  to  obtain  his 
blessing — "  that  he  should  put  his  hands  on  them 
and  pray."  Mat.  19:  13.  The  disciples  appear  to 
have  thought  that  their  Master  ought  not  to  be  trou- 
bled with  applications  of  this  kind,  because  being  a 
civil  ruler  and  not  a  priest,  matters  of  a  different 


75 

character  would  require  his  attention,  and  because 
there  were  among  them  priests  and  levites,  a  part 
of  whose  official  duty  was  to  bless  the  people.  See 
Deut.  10:  8,  and  21:  4;  also  Num.  G:  22-27.  Christ's 
reply  to  them  and  his  treatment  of  the  children, 
were  adapted  to  correct  their  mistake.  He  in  effect 
told  them  that  his  errand  on  earth  was  not  to  ad- 
minister civil  government,  but  to  establish  his 
church,  which  was  an  object  immeasurably  greater; 
and  that  his  official  work  being  sacred  and  not  civil, 
it  was  highly  proper  for  the  people  to  come  to  him 
with  their  children  and  receive  his  benediction.  Ac- 
cordingly "he  took  them  up  in  his  arms,  put  his 
hands  upon  them,  and  blessed  them."  Mark  10:  16, 
This  act  of  benediction  was  under  the  circumstances 
and  taken  in  connexion  with  the  reason  assigned — 
"  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven," —  a  dis:^inct 
recognition  of  their  church  membership.  Their 
right  to  the  privilege  of  receiving  his  blessing  is  pre- 
dicated upon  their  relation  to  his  kingdom:  "for  [be- 
cause] of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  In  the 
Jewish  church  the  official  benediction  pronounced 
by  the  high-priest  was  upon  the  whole  congregation 
of  Israel,  old  and  young,  parents  and  children :  it 
was  a  public  act,  all  classes  of  persons  being  pres- 
ent; and  hence  the  reason  assigned  for  blessing 
these  infants  was  a  virtual  admission  that  if  little 
children  were  not  to  sustain  the  same  relation  to  the 
church  under  the  gospel  dispensation  which  they 
had  done  under  the  old ;  in  other  words,  if  it  were 
his  purpose  to  exclude  them  from  "  the  congregation 
7a 


76 

of  Israel,"  [i.  e.  from  the  christian  church,]  they 
would  not  be  entitled  to  his  benediction  in  the  sense 
here  intended;  and  that  those  who  brought  them  to 
him  for  this  purpose  were  justly  rebuked  by  his  dis- 
ciples. Our  Savior's  blessing  them  was  therefore 
under  the  circumstances  a  distinct  acknowledge- 
ment of  their  church  membership. 

But  by  the  phrase  '^  kingdom  of  heaven"  some  un- 
derstand the  kingdom  of  glory.  Though  for  the  rea- 
sons above  given  we  do  not  adopt  this  opinion,  yet 
on  the  supposition  that  this  is  the  true  interpretation, 
it  furnishes  a  strong  argument  for  infant  church 
membership.  If  it  teaches  infant  salvation,  which  is 
a  doctrine  we  fully  believe,  would  it  not  be  incredi- 
ble that  Chrirft  should  admit  a  class  of  persons  into 
his  kingdom  of  glory  to  whom  he  refuses  a  name  and 
a  place  among  his  people  on  earth?  We  are  thus 
brought  to  the  same  result  as  before.  Either  infant 
church  members  are  such,  and  are  to  continue  such 
without  baptism,  or  they  are  to  be  baptized  as  the 
initiatory,  visible  seal  of  their  membership.  Which 
of  these  alternatives  is  the  more  probable?  Let  the 
analogy  furnished  by  the  history  of  the  old  testament 
church,  in  which  the  infant  Savior  himself  condscen- 
(led  to  receive  the  appointed  seal  of  membership, 
furnish  an  answer.  See  Luke  2:  21.  Why  do  not 
those  who  are  so  strenuous  in  pleading  Christ's  ex- 
ample as  an  argument  for  going  into  the  water,  see 
the  propriety  and  force  of  his  example  while  an  in- 
fant? After  he  was  grown  up  did  he  ever  rebuke 
his  parents  for  subjecting  him  to  the  rite  of  circum- 


79 

cision?  or  intimated  that  they  had  performed  a  use- 
less and  unnecessary  act? 

III.  A  consideration  of  cur  Savior's  last  commis- 
sion to  his  Apostles,  compared  with  the  manner  in 
which  they  taught  and  practiced  under  it. 

Those  who  deny  the  scriptural  authority  for  bap- 
tizing infants,  maintain  that  they  are  excluded  by 
the  Apostolic  commission,  which  they  say  requires 
faith  in  order  to  baptism ;  and  since  infants  cannot 
believe  they  must  not  be  baptized.  "  He  that  be- 
lieveth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved."  Mark 
16:   16. 

If  these  words  admit  of  no  other  interpretation 
than  the  one  here  assumed,  viz :  that  faith  is  essen- 
tial in  all  cases  without  exception,  in  order  to  entitle  a 
person  to  receive  baptism,  the  above  inference  is 
valid,  and  the  practice  of  infant  baptism  must  be 
given  up  as  unauthorized  by  our  Savior.  But  do 
they  teach  that  faith  is  essential  to  baptism  in  all 
cases?  infants  as  well  as  adults?  In  order  to  make 
the  argument  good,  the  premises  must  be  as  broad 
as  the  conclusion.  But  as  nothing  is  said  in  the 
commission  about  infants ;  by  what  rule  of  reason- 
ing can  the  proposition  be  made  to  extend  to  them? 
All  wliich  is  taught  by  the  passage  is  that  unconver- 
ted adults  must  not  be  baptized  before  they  believe. 
The  utmost  that  can  be  inferred  concerning  infants 
is  that  because  they  are  not  mentioned,  therefore 
this  commission  cannot  be  appealed  to  in  favor  of 
infant  baptism.  But  is  not  the  same  inference  as 
applicable  to  botli  s.ides  of  the  question  as  it  is  to 


80  « 

one?  If  Christ's  omission  to  say  anything  about  in 
fants  prevents  the  use  of  it  as  a  proof  text  in  favor 
of  infant  baptism,  it  also  prevents  its  use  for  the 
same  reason  as  a  proof  text  ogainst  the  baptism  of 
infants.  TIius  far  therefore  both  parties  stand  on  a 
level.  We  must  then  resort  to  the  circumstances  of 
the  case;  and  if  it  can  be  shown  that  these  were  of 
such  a  character  that  the  omission  of  infants  when 
he  sent  out  the  Apostles  to  preach  and  baptize,  can 
be  accounted  for  in  no  other  way  than  by  supposing 
he  designed  to  exclude  them  from  the  ordinance  of 
baptism,  this  again  will  settle  the  question  against 
the  practice.  But  can  this  be  shown  ?  On  the  con- 
trary that  omission  can  be  accounted  for,  not  only 
without  assuming  that  Christ  intended  to  exclude  in- 
fants from  this  ordinance,  but  the  inference  from  it 
is  decidedly  the  other  way,  viz :  that  they  w^ere  not 
mentioned  because  he  designed  to  make  no  change 
in  their  former  relation  to  the  church,  and  hence 
there  was  no  necessity  of  giving  any  particular  di- 
rections on  the  subject. 

1.  The  Apostles  were  by  birth  and  education 
Jews,  and  had  always  been  accustomed  to  the  rite 
of  infant  circumcision,  and  they  attached  to  it  great 
importance. 

2.  They  were  familiar  with  the  baptism  of  prose- 
lytes from  the  Gentiles,  who  as  is  well  authenticated 
by  ancient  history  were  received  into  the  Jewish 
church  by  circumcision  and  baptism — the  males 
both  parents  and  children  being  circumcised  and 
baptized  and  the  females  baptized.     The  commis- 


*« 


81 

sion  to  preach  and  baptize  (as  its  language  clearly 
shows)  had  particular  reference  to  the  Gentiles. 
They  needed  no  special  instructions  to  preach  to  the 
Jews.  This  they  were  commissioned  to  do  at  the 
commencement  of  Christ's  public  ministry.  But  in 
that  first  commission  he  told  them  not  to  go  in  the 
way  of  the  Gentiles,  "but  only  to  the  lost  sheep  of 
the  house  of  Israel."  Now  he  said  :  "  Go  teach  all 
nations,  baptizing  them,"  &c.  Mat.  18:  19-20.  The 
word  teach,  in  our  English  version,  occurs  twice  in 
this  passage.  "  Go  teach  all  nations,"  &c.;  "teaching 
them  to  observe  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you." 
But  in  the  Greek  they  are  not  the  same  words.  In 
the  second  instance  it  signifies  to  teach  in  the  com- 
mon acceptation  of  the  term,  viz:  to  instruct;  but  in 
the  first  it  would  be  more  accurately  translated  by 
the  term  disciple:  "Go  make  disciples  of  all  na- 
tions;" which  conveys  a  sense  analogous  to  prose- 
lyte :  "  Go  make  proselytes  of  them,  baptizing  them," 
&c. — a  direction  which  differed  in  no  important  re- 
spect from  what  they  had  often  seen  carried  into 
practice,  except  that  now  they  were  to  be  made  pro- 
selytes not  to  Judaism  but  Christianity;  and  they 
were  not  as  formerly  to  wait  for  the  Gentiles  to 
come  and  knock  at  their  door  for  admittance,  but  go 
out  and  offer  them  the  blessings  of  the  gospel. 

3.  Though  the  Gentiles  were  especially  intended 
in  this  commission,  the  Jews  were  not  to  be  over- 
looked. They  were  required  to  "  preach  in  his  name 
among  all  nations,  beginning  at  Jerusalem."  And 
the  recollection  was  still  fresh  in  their  minds,  that 


82 

Christ  was  much  displeased  with  them  for  rebuking 
some  of  their  Jewish  brethren  because  they  brought 
to  him  Uttle  children  to  receive  his  benediction,  and 
that  he  had  said  concerning  them  "  Of  such  is  the 
kingdom  of  heaven." 

From  these  circumstances  it  appears  to  me  to  be 
a  fair  conclusion  that  if  Christ  had  designed  not  to 
have  his  Apostles  baptize  infants,  he  would  have  ex- 
pressly excepted  them  in  the  commission;  and  on 
the  other  hand,  that  if  he  expected  them  to  do  it,  he 
would  say  nothing  particularly  on  the  subject;  but 
merely  authorize  and  require  them,  as  he  has  done, 
in  general  terms,  to  extend  to  all  the  world  those 
precious  privileges  which  had  hitherto  been  enjoyed 
for  the  most  part  by  the  Jewish  nation  alone. 

We  will  now  inquire  how  the  Apostles  proceeded 
to  teach  and  act  under  their  commission.  As  to 
their  teaching,  there  are  two  instances  on  record 
which  bear  on  this  point.  One  is  the  discourse  of 
Peter  to  a  Jewish  audience  on  the  day  of  Pentecost, 
and  the  other  an  epistle  of  Paul  to  a  church  of  be- 
lieving Gentiles.  Peter's  language  was  "Repent 
and  be  baptized,"  &c.,  "  for  the  promise  is  unto  you 
and  to  your  children,  and  to  all  that  are  afar  off, 
even  to  as  many  as  the  Lord  our  God  shall  call." 
Acts  2 :  38-39. 

By  the  promise  immediate  reference  was  had  to 
the  prophecy  of  Joel  quoted  by  him  at  the  com- 
mencement of  his  discourse  (v.  16-17;)  in  which  was 
predicted  the  effusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  But  there 
was  a  farther  reference  to  the  promise  contained  in 


83 

the  Abrahamic  covenant.  This  we  think  is  proved 
from  the  fact  that  in  his  next  discourse  (Acts  3 :  25, 
26)  he  expressly  connects  with  that  covenant  the  ex- 
traordinary events  which  were  then  transpiring. 
"  Ye  are  the  children  of  the  prophets  and  of  the  cov- 
enant which  God  made  with  our  fathers,  saying  unto 
Abraliam;  'And  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the  kindreds 
of  the  earth  be  blessed.'  Unto  you  first  God  having 
raised  up  his  Son  Jesus,  sent  him  to  bless  you,"  &;c. 
It  is  also  proved  from  the  reference  made  to  that 
covenant  by  Paul,  who  mentions  the  specific  bless- 
ing w^hich  was  enjoyed  at  the  Pentecost,  viz :  the 
Spirit  as  flowing  from  it :  "  That  the  blessing  of 
Abraham  might  come  on  the  Gentiles  through  Jesus 
Christ;  that  we  might  receive  the  promise  of  the  Spirit 
through  faith.     Gal.  3:  14. 

This  being  settled  we  find  no  difficulty  in  under- 
standing who  were  meant  by  ^^  children. '^^  The  prom- 
ise to  Abraham  is  found  first  in  Gen.  12th  chap- 
ter; it  was  repeated  substantially  in  chapter  15th, 
and  renewed  again  with  the  seal  of  circumcision  in 
chapter  1 7th.  In  the  12th  chapter  no  mention  is 
made  of  a  covenant.  In  the  15th  it  is  said  God 
made  a  covenant  wiih  Abraham ;  but  the  words  quo- 
ted by  Peter  are  not  found  in  that  chapter.  By 
comparing  Acts  3:  25,  with  Gen.  12:  3,  and  17:  7,  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  quotation  in  Peter's  second  ser- 
mon is  taken  partly  from  both  chapters,  but  that  a 
particular  reference  w^as  had  to  the  17th.  This  ap- 
pears from  the  fact  that  the  words  are  quoted  as 
forming  a  part  of  a  "  covenant^^  of  which  (as  we  have 
8 


84 

paid)  no  mention  is  made  in  the  V2Xh  chapter;  and 
that  the  word  "  seed  "  is  introduced  hy  him,  which  it* 
also  wanting  in  chapter  12th.  Both  of  these  terms 
are  contained  in  the  17th  chapter,  which  shows  that 
the  Apostle  designed  to  direct  the  minds  of  his  hear- 
ers especially  to  that.  Now  compare  the  words 
"the  promise  is  unto  you  and  to  your  children,'^ 
(Acts  2:  38-30)  with  that  recorded  in  Gen.  17:  7. 
which  furnishes  a  key  to  the  interpretation  of  Peter's 
language:  "I  will  establish  my  covenant  between 
me  and  thee  and  thy  seed  after  thee,"  &c.,  "to  be  a 
God  unto  thee  and  thy  seed  after  thee."  Whatever 
is  meant  by  ^^seed^^  in  the  one  case,  is  to  be  under- 
stood by  ^'- children^^  in  the  other.  We  do  not  main- 
tain that  it  signifies  in  either,  little  children  exclu- 
sively, or  children  of  any  age,  as  distinguished  from 
adults.  But  the  connexion  in  which  the  word  seed 
stands  in  Genesis  clearly  shows  that  children  of  all 
ages  down  to  the  infant  of  eight  days  old  were  in- 
cluded. And  if  so  would  not  Peter  be  understood 
by  his  Jewish  hearers  as  using  the  word  children  in 
the  same  sense?  It  was  as  though  he  had  said 
'•Repent"  and  by  the  ordinance  of  baptism  incor- 
porate yourselves  with  the  disciples  of  Christ;  in 
doing  which  your  church  privileges  will  not  be 
abridged,  for  the  promise  made  to  Abraham,  "  to  be 
a  God  unto  him  and  to  his  seed  after  him,"  is  to  be 
carried  out  under  the  christian  dispensation — "  the 
promise  is  unto  you  and  to  your  c/iddrcn,  and  to  them 
that  are  afar  off,  even  to  as  many  as  the  Lord  our 
God  shall  call."     Some  interpret  these  last  words  of 


85 

those  Jews  who  were  not  present  at  that  scene ;  but 
it  appears  to  me  to  accord  better  with  the  import  of 
the  phrase  "  afar  off"  as  found  elsewhere  to  refer  it 
to  the  Gentiles,  who  are  described  by  Paul  as  "  afar 
off;"  (Eph.  2:  13-17,)  and  this  sense  is  apposite  to 
our  present  purpose.  Not  only  were  Abraham's  na- 
tural seed  according  to  that  covenant  to  be  blessed 
through  the  Messiah,  but  "  all  the  families  of  the 
earth;"  which  last  promise  Peter  refers  to  in  these 
words ;  teaching  thereby  that  "  as  many  as  the  Lord 
our  God  should  call,"  to  whatever  nation  they  might 
belong,  would  become  partakers  equally  with  the 
believing  Jews,  of  the  privileges  contained  in  that 
covenant.  As  the  promise  belonged  to  the  former 
and  their  children  so  also  to  the  latter  and  their  chil- 
dren. "Now  we,  brethren,  [believing  Gentiles]  as 
Isaac  was  are  the  children  of  promise."  Gal.  4:  28. 
The  other  case  is  recorded  in  1  Cor.  7:14.  "  The 
unbelieving  husband  is  sanctified  by  the  wife,  and 
the  unbeheving  wife  is  sanctified  by  the  husband: 
else  were  your  children  unclean,  but  now  are  they 
holy."  It  appears  from  the  context  that  the  design 
of  this  passage  was  to  solve  an  important  practical 
difficulty.  It  would  often  happen  that  the  husband 
would  be  converted  from  paganism  to  Christianity 
while  the  wife  remained  a  heathen;  or  the  wife  be 
converted  while  the  husband  continued  an  idolater. 
What  course  ought  the  believing  party  to  pursue  to- 
wards the  unbelieving?  Must  the  former  separate 
from  the  latter?  or  would  it  be  consistent  with  a 
profession  of  Christianity  for  them  to  remain  togeth- 


80 

er  ?  and  if  so  what  relation  would  their  children  sus- 
tain to  the  christian  church  ?  The  Apostle  replied 
that  if  the  unbeliever  choose  to  depart,  let  him  de- 
part ;  but  that  the  believing  party  must  not  be  the 
first  to  propose  it.  Oq  the  contrary,  if  the  pagan 
husband  or  w^ife  w^as  willing  to  remain  with  his  chris- 
tian partner,  the  latter  must  remain  ;  "for  the  unbe- 
lieving husband  is  sanctified  by  the  wife,  and  the 
unbelieving  wife  is  sanctified  by  the  husband:"  i.  e. 
the  heathen  husband  or  wife  is  so  far  separated  from 
paganism  by  the  christian  profession  of  the  other, 
that  the  latter  could  enjoy  the  privilege  of  dedicating 
their  cliildrcn  to  God.  "Else  were  your  children  W7i- 
dcan^'' ;  i.  e.  unfit  to  be  devoted  to  God,  because  their 
parents  \vere  idolaters,  and  therefore  wholly  disqual- 
ified to  ofier  them.  "But  now  are  they  holy'^ ;  i.  e. 
they  are  proper  persons  to  be  dedicated  to  Jehovah ; 
because  one  of  their  parents  being  a  christian,  some 
security  would  be  given  for  the  training  up  of  their 
children  in  the  christian  faith.  Accordingly  their 
household  must  be  regarded  and  treated  as  a  chris- 
tian family — it  being  implied  of  course  that  the  hea- 
then party  if  he  chose  to  continue  with  the  convert- 
ed one,  must  consent  to  this  change  in  the  ecclesias- 
tical relation  of  their  children.  Thus  the  believing 
parent  w^ould  feel  that  one  serious  difficulty  to  his 
continuing  to  live  w4th  a  heathen  partner  was  remo- 
ved— a  difficulty  w^hich  would  be  insuperable  provi- 
ded their  children  as  was  the  case  among  the  hea- 
then, were  to  be  devoted  from  their  birth  to  some 
idol. 


87 

The  above  interpetration  of  the  terms  unclean  and 
holy,  is  abundantly  sanctioned  by  the  word  of  God. 
They  occur  often  in  the  ceremonial  law  and  occa- 
sionally in  other  parts  of  the  scripture.  As  examples 
we  refer  the  reader  to  Gen.  7,  2,  and  8,  20:  Ex.  28, 
38  :  Lev.  10,  16,  and  27,  30  :  Num.  18,  17.  From 
a  perusal  of  those  texts  it  will  be  evident  that  the 
term  unclean,  is  used  with  reference  to  what  was  not 
allowed  to  be  offered  in  sacrifice  to  God,  and  holy^ 
with  reference  to  what  might  be  offered.  This  sense 
of  the  words  was  familiar  to  the  Apostle ;  it  was 
their  common  meaning  in  the  Old  Testament,  and 
hence  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  that  he  so 
used  them  in  this  passage.  But  how  were  persons 
accustomed  in  Paul's  time,  to  be  devoted  to  God  ? 
They  were  baptized  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Ghost.  And  if  (as  he  taught  the  Corinth- 
ians) the  children  of  such  as  thus  devoted  themselves, 
were  also  ''■holy^''  i.  e.  were  proper  persons  to  be  de- 
voted to  him,  w^hat  else  could  be  meant  than  that 
they  likewise  should  receive  the  same  ordinance, 
which  was  the  Divinely  instituted  sign  of  this  dedi- 
cation. 

We  should  not  perhaps  leave  wholly  unnoticed  a 
different  interpetration  given  by  some  to  the  words 
"unclean"  and  "holy."  By  unclean  they  understand 
illegitimate,  and  by  holy,  legitimate.  "Else  were 
your  children  unclean,"  [illegitimate]  "but  now  are 
they  holy,"  [legitimate].  If  this  is  the  import  of  the 
words,  it  follows  that  a  profession  of  piety  in  one  of 
the  parents  is  necessary  in  order  to  make  their  mar- 
8a 


88 

riage  lawful,  and  their  offspring  legitimate— a  con- 
clusion which  needs  only  to  be  mentioned  in  order  to 
show  that  an  exposition  which  leads  to  it  as  a  nec- 
essary consequence,  is  not  entitled  to  serious  con- 
sideration. 

In  noticing  the  practice  of  the  Apostles,  we  will  ad- 
duce two  examples  which  correspond  to  the  two 
cases  of  teaching  just  considered,  viz :  one  among 
the  Jews,  the  other  among  the  Gentiles.  The  for- 
mer is  the  baptism  of  Lydia  and  her  household,  Acts 
16:  13-16.  If,  as  is  probable,  Lydia  was  not  a  Jew- 
ess by  birth  she  was  a  proselyte  to  the  Jewish  reli- 
gion,— and  was  engaged  in  worship  with  a  Jewish 
congregation  at  the  time  of  her  conversion  to  the 
christian  faith.  She  was  in  a  place  of  prayer  (v. 
13)  on  the  sabbath  day;  and  she  worshipped  God 
(v.  16)  which  is  a  description  of  the  Jewish  and  not 
of  Pagan  religion.  She  was  therefore  well  acquain- 
ted with  the  Jewish  rites  and  with  their  mode  of  re- 
ceiving proselytes  into  the  church.  What  Peter  said 
on  the  day  of  Pentecost — "the  promise  is  unto  you 
and  to  your  children,"  she  had  often  seen  exempli- 
fied in  the  baptism  of  households,  including  parents 
and  their  children,  wdien  the  former  became  prose- 
lytes to  the  Jewish  religion.  Luke  was  also  familiar 
vrith  the  same  practice  ;  and  hence  when  her  heart 
was  opened  to  attend  to  the  things  spoken  by  Paul, 
and  she  embraced  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  her  Sa- 
viour, the  record  of  her  reception  into  the  christian 
church,  was  just  such  as  would  naturally  have  been 
made,  if  Peter  or  Paul  had  preached  to  her  before 


LYDIA  AND  HER  HOUSEHOLD  BAPTIZED. 


Acts  16:  13-15. 


91 

Christ's  advent,  while  she  was  yet  a  heathen,  and 
had  admitted  her  into  the  Jewish  church.  "She  w^as 
baptized  and  her  household."  Suppose  the  design 
of  the  record  had  been  to  give  the  history  of  her  re- 
ception into  the  Jewish  church,  as  a  convert  from 
paganism ;  could  there  be  any  doubt  as  to  its  im- 
port ?  The  term  household  is  equivalent  to  family ; 
and  the  idea  necessarily  conveyed  would  have  been, 
that  she  having  been  converted  and  baptized,  her 
family  received  this  ordinance  upon  her  faith.  This 
was  the  method  invariably  employed  at  that  time  in 
admitting  Gentile  proselytes  into  the  Jewish  church. 
It  is  therefore  a  probable  inference  that  the  same 
thing  was  done  in  receiving  her  into  the  christian 
church ;  and  this  probability  is  greatly  strengthened 
if  not  rendered  entirely  certain,  by  her  own  language 
addressed  to  Paul  and  Luke  immediately  afterwards. 
"And  when  she  was  baptized  and  her  household,  she 
besought  us,  saying,  if  ye  have  judged  7nc  to  be 
faithful  to  the  Lord,  come  into  my  house,"  &c. — 
Mark,  she  urges  her  request  not  on  the  ground  of  the 
faith  of  her  household,  but  of  her  own. 

The  other  case  is  recorded  in  the  same  chapter, 
and  describes  the  conversion  of  a  Gentile,  a  jailor 
at  Phillippi;  of  whom  it  is  said  that  he  "was  bapti- 
zed, he  and  all  his."  Acts  16:  33.  It  is  not  denied 
by  any  so  far  as  we  know,  that  by  "all  his,"  we  are 
to  understand  all  his  family  or  household.  The  only 
question  in  dispute  is  whether  they  were  all  believ- 
ers? or  w^hether  he  only  believed?  In  the  former  case 
each  would  be  baptized  on  his  own  faith ;  in  the  lat- 


92 

ter,  on  the  faith  of  the  jailor,  who  as  the  head  of  his 
family  brouglit  the  members  thereof  by  baptism  un- 
der the  bond  of  God's  covenant  with  his  people. 
The  words  "they  spake  unto  him  the  word  of  the 
Lord,  and  to  all  that  were  in  his  house,"  show  that 
some  of  his  family  and  perhaps  all  of  them  were 
old  enough  to  receive  religious  instruction  ;  and  this 
would  render  it  probable,  if  nothing  else  were  said 
on  the  subject,  that  they  embraced  Christ  and  were 
baptized  on  their  own  faith.  But  this  is  not  all  that 
is  said,  and  hence  this  alone  cannot  settle  the  ques- 
tion. Children  may  and  often  do  in  some  churches, 
receive  christian  baptism  on  their  parents'  faith,  who 
are  of  sufficient  age  to  receive  it  on  their  own,  pro- 
vided they  possessed  the  requisite  qualifications. 
But  not  possessing  those  qualifications,  they  are  pre- 
sented to  God  in  this  ordinance  by  their  parents, 
when  the  latter  are  converted  to  Christ  and  connect 
themselves  with  his  church.  This  we  believe  was 
done  by  the  jailor.  One  of  our  reasons  for  this 
opinion  is  found  in  the  answer  of  Paul  and  Silas  to 
the  question  "what  must  I  do  to  be  saved?"  They 
replied,  "believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  thou 
shalt  be  saved  and  thy  house.-''  Thy  house,  i.  e.  thy 
family  shall  be  saved.  This  surely  cannot  mean 
that  if  he  believed,  tJiey  would  be  saved  solely  on  the 
ground  of  liis  faith,  icithout  exercising  faith  themselves. 
Such  a  sentiment  does  not  accord  with  other  parts  of 
Scripture.  And  yet  their  salvation  is  manifestly 
connected  in  some  way  with  his  faith.  Again,  it 
cannot  mean  that  they  would  be  saved,   provided 


93 

they  should  exercise  faith.     Though  this   would  be 
true,  it  is  a  truism  which  in  this  connexion,  is  devoid 
of  force.  If  they  should  believe  in  Christ,  they  would 
be  saved,  whether  the  jailor  believed  in  him  or  not. 
But  as  we  said  before,  the  promise  as  here  made, 
has  a  special  relation  to  the  faith  of  the  jailor.     In 
what  sense  then  would  his  family  be  saved  as  the 
result  of  liis  faith  in  the  Redeemer  ?     Only  one  an- 
swer, so  far  as  we  can  perceive,  can  be  consistently 
given  to  this  question.     They  would  be  saved  in  the 
sense  of  those  words  of  Christ  concerning  Zaccheus, 
Luke  19 :  9 — "this   day  is  salvation    come  to  this 
house."     Zaccheus  though  a  Jew^,  had  by  his  infa- 
mous conduct,  forfeited  his  church  privileges,  and 
was   counted   as  a  heathen.     His   family    were    of 
course  in  the  same  condemnation.      But  Christ  now 
restored  him  to  his  former  covenant  relation  and  re- 
quired him  to  be  regarded  and  treated  as  "a  son  of 
Abraham."     His  family  must  also  be  owned  as  one 
of  the  families  of  Israel.     The  channels   of  saving 
mercy  which  their  father  by  his  former  conduct  had 
closed  against  them,  Christ  now  opened  for  their 
benefit.     The  father's  restoration  to  the  Divine  fa- 
vor, encircled  his  "house,"  with  the  rainbow  of  God's 
covenant.     It  brought  the  means  of  grace  and  sal- 
vation to  his  outcast  "publican"  family.     So  it  was 
with  the  "house"  of  the  jailor.      His  faith  in  Christ 
so  changed  the  relation  of  his  family  with  regard  to 
religion,  that  instead  of  the  streams  of  pagan  pol- 
lution which  had  before  defiled  their  hearts,  they 
were  now  blessed  with  those  pure  waters   of  life 


94 

which  are  enjo3'ed  by  christian  famiUes  through  the 
ordinances  of  the  church.  If  this  is  what  Paul  and 
Silas  meant  by  the  jailor's  "house"  being  saved,  it 
amounts  to  a  declaration  that  his  family  would 
through  his  faith  be  numbered  among  Christ's  visible 
people,  and  hence  that  they  would  be  entitled  to 
christian  baptism  as  the  sign  or  token  of  their  new 
relation. 

But  we  have  another  and  stronger  reason  for  our 
opinion.  It  is  founded  on  v.  34,  where  it  is  said  that 
the  jailor  "rejoiced,  believing  in  God  with  all  his 
house."  The  participle  "believing"  it  is  obvious, 
agrees  with  jailor.  In  the  Greek,  it  is  in  the  singu- 
lar number,  and  can  agree  with  nothing  else.  The 
jailor  believed  in  God.  Thus  far  there  can  be  no 
doubt.  But  Luke  adds  to  this  phrase,  (as  it  stands 
in  the  English)  "with  all  his  house."  We  say  he 
adds  this  phrase  to  the  word  '■'■believing ,^''  as  though  it 
belonged  to  that;  but  in  the  Greek  the  phrase  "with 
all  his  house"  stands  before  believing,  and  is  con- 
nected grammatically  with  "rejoiced."  "He  rejoiced 
wdth  all  his  house,  believing  [i.  e.  he  believing]  in 
God."  Our  translators  changed  the  order  of  the 
words  it  is  probable,  because  in  English,  the  partici- 
ple believing  is  either  singular  or  plural,  and  hence 
it  would  be  doubtful  if  placed  in  the  order  of  the 
original,  whether  it  referred  to  the  jailor  or  to  his 
house  or  to  both ;  and  hence  they  placed  it  before 
the  phrase,  "with  all  his  house,"  so  as  to  avoid  this 
obscurity,  and  show  what  is  very  clear  in  the  Greek, 
that  the  jailor  is  referred  to  in  the  word  believing, 


It* 


95 

and  not  his  family.  But  in  avoiding  one  obscu- 
rity, they  created  another.  As  it  now  stands  the  En- 
ghsh  reader  is  still  liable  to  connect  the  phrase  "with 
all  his  house,"  with  "believing,"  and  thus  receive  the 
erroneous  impression  that  not  only  the  jailor  but  all 
his  house  believed  in  God ;  which  is  not  said  at  all, 
but  the  contrary  is  distinctly  taught.  He  alone  and 
not  they,  "believed  in  God."  Gr.  "He  rejoiced  with 
all  his  house,  [himself]  believing  in  God."  This 
places  the  question,  according  to  my  judgment,  be- 
yond reasonable  doubt. 

Connect  now  our  previous  remarks  with  reference 
to  the  jailor's  house  being  saved,  with  what  is  here 
affirmed  concerning  his  rejoicing  with  all  his  house,  and 
the  whole  is  satisfactorily  explained.  The  joy  is 
predicated  chiefly  of  him;  but  as  it  seems  to  be  im- 
plied that  his  family  participated  with  him  in  his 
joy,  this  circumstance  creates  no  difficulty,  but  is 
just  what  we  should  expect.  Some  of  them  as  we 
have  seen,  if  not  all  were  old  enough  to  be  instruct- 
ed, and  would  feel  happy  at  seeing  their  once  heathen 
but  now  christian  father  rejoicing  in  hope  of  future 
glory. 

There  is  one  other  case  of  household  baptism  re- 
corded in  the  New  Testament,  but  as  no  circum- 
stance is  mentioned  in  connection  with  it,  which 
throws  any  additional  light  on  the  subject,  we  shall 
not  give  it  a  particular  consideration.  See  1  Cor.  1: 
16.  Is  it  asked  why  no  more  examples  are  found 
provided  they  were  common  in  those  days  ?     We 

might  as  well  inquire  why  no  more  frequent  mention 
9 


96 

is  made  of  the  sabbath  and  public  worship?  which 
occurred  upwards  of  fifty  times  every  year,  and  yet 
but  few  allusions,  comparatively  speaking,  are  made 
to  either,  in  the  New  Testament.  If  a  single  case 
of  household  baptism  can  be  adduced  it  is  sufficient 
to  establish  the  doctrine.  One  clear  Apostolic  ex- 
ample outweighs  all  the  presumptive,  negative  proof 
^ which  can  be  brought  against  it.  But  the  two  cases 
which  have  been  adduced,  are  not  opposed  either  by 
contrary  prineiples  or  conflicting  facts.  They  illus- 
trate and  confirm  principles  which  the  sacred  writers 
frequently  taught  on  this  subject,  and  they  are  cor- 
roborated by  historical  circumstances  recorded  in 
the  bible  and  in  other  ancient  writings.  The  most 
important  of  those  principles  we  have  considered  in 
the  preceding  pages.  Some  of  the  facts  to  which 
we  allude  we  shall  now  proceed  to  notice. 

IV.  Evidence  in  favor  of  infant  baptism  from  the 
history  of  proselyte  baptism  among  the  Jews,  com- 
pared with  its  early  history  in  the  christian  church- 

We  have  alluded  several  times  to  the  practice 
among  the  Jews  of  baptizing  proselytes  from  the 
Gentiles.  No  fact  is  better  attested  by  Jewish  wri- 
ters than  this.  At  what  time  it  was  introduced  is 
not  so  clear.  But  we  have  undoubted  proof  from 
the  scriptures  that  it  was  practiced  before  the  chris- 
tian era,  and  some  probable  evidence  is  also  furnish- 
ed as  to  its  origin. 

1 .  The  induction  of  the  priests  and  levites  into 
their  official  stations  was  performed  in  part  by  wash- 
ing them  with  water.     Ex.  40:  30-32,  and  Num.  8  : 


97 

7.  The  people  also  in  their  solemn  approaches  to 
God  were  accustomed  to  bathe  or  sprinkle  them- 
selves with  water  and  to  wash  their  garments  as  a 
preparation  for  those  solemn  acts.  Num.  19  :  19. 
20.  To  these  examples  we  may  add  that  the  whole 
congregation  of  Israel  were  initiated  into  the  JNIo- 
saic  ritual  by  passing  "under  the  cloud  and  thi'ough 
the  sea:"  which  is  called  by  Paul  their  being  "bap- 
tized unto  Moses  in  the  cloud  and  in  the  sea."  It 
appears  therefore  that  from  an  early  period  of  their 
history  they  were  familiar  with  the  use  of  water  in 
their  religious  ceremonies  and  solemnities.  And  it 
continued  to  be  so  in  later  times  as  may  be  inferred 
from  the  fact  that  the  allusions  which  were  made  to 
water  in  the  figurative  language  of  the  prophets 
well  accord  with  this  general  usage,  and  possess 
much  less  force  and  beauty"  on  the  supposition  that 
no  such  practice  existed.     See  Isa.  44,  3,  Ez.  36,  25. 

2.  The  baptism  of  John  was  not  regarded  by  the 
people  as  a  novelty.  When  they  asked  him  (John 
1,  25)  "why  baptizest  thou  then?"  their  inquiry  did 
not  imply  the  introduction  of  a  new  rite,  but  only  a 
doubt  as  to  his  authority  to  administer  it. 

3.  The  dispute  which  arose  between  some  of 
John's  disciples  and  the  Jews  about  purifying,  (John 
3 :  23,  25,  26)  was  apparently  a  controversy  about 
the  comparative  claims  of  John  and  Christ  to  make 
proselytes. 

4.  The  Pharisees  evidently  regarded  the  baptism 
both  of  Christ  and  John  the  Baptist,  as  a  mode  of 
making  proselytes.     John  4,  1. 


98 

5.  When  Peter  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  addres- 
sed the  multitudes  who  were  assembled  at  Jerusalem 
out  of  every  nation  under  heaven,  saying  "repent 
and  be  baptized ;"  they  were  not  taken  by  surprise 
as  though  he  was  introducing  a  new  ordinance. 
They  appeared  to  be  acquainted  with  its  existence 
and  to  understand  that  it  was  connected  with  repent- 
ance. 

6.  Josephus  the  Jewish  historian  speaking  of  the 
baptism  of  John  the  Baptist  (Antiq.  18,  5,2,)  alludes 
to  it  in  such  language  as  to  show  that  he  did  not  re- 
gard John  as  its  author,  but  as  practicing  what  was 
in  use  before. 

7.  Dr.  Wall  in  his  history  of  Infant  Baptism, 
quotes  largely  from  the  Jewish  Talmud  and  from 
Maimonides  a  learned  Jew  and  the  great  interpreter 
of  the  Jewish  law,  giving  specific  information  as  to 
the  practice  and  opinions  of  the  Jews  on  this  sub- 
ject.    Some  of  these  we  will  transcribe : 

"When  an  ethnic  [a  Gentile]  is  willing  to  enter 
into  the  covenant,  and  gather  himself  under  the 
wings  of  the  majesty  of  God,  and  take  upon  him 
the  yoke  of  the  law,  he  must  be  circumcised,  and 
baptized,  and  bring  a  sacrifice ;  or  if  it  be  a  woman, 
be  baptized  and  bring  a  sacrifice." 

"A  stranger  that  is  circumcised  and  not  baptized, 
or  baptized  and  not  circumcised,  he  is  not  a  prose- 
lyte till  he  be  both  circumcised  and  baptized,"  &c. 

"Even  as  they  circumcise  and  baptize  strangers ; 
so  do  they  circumcise  and  baptize  servants  that  are 
received  from  heathens,"  &;c. 


99 

"If  with  a  proselyte  his  sons  and  daughters  be 
made  proselytes ;  that  which  is  done  by  their  father, 
[i.  e.  to  proselyte  them  by  circumcising  and  bapti- 
zing them]  redounds  to  their  good."     Again 

"They  are  wont  to  baptize  such  a  proselyte  in  in- 
fancy upon  the  profession  of  the  house  of  judgment 
(the  court).     For  this  is  for  his  good."      *     *     *     * 

"'Any  male  child  of  such  a  proselyte,  that  was  un- 
der the  age  of  thirteen  years  and  a  day,  and  females 
that  were  under  twelve  years  and  a  day,  they  bapti- 
zed as  infants  at  the  request  and  by  the  assent  of 
the  father,  or  the  authority  of  the  court;  because 
such  an  one  was  not  yet  the  son  of  assent  [i.  e.  not 
capable  to  give  assent  for  himself]  but  the  thing  is 
for  his  good.  If  they  were  above  that  age  they  as- 
sented for  themselves."     Again 

"An  Israelite  that  takes  a  little  heathen  child,  or 
that  finds  an  heathen  infant,  and  baptizes  him  for  a 
proselyte;  behold  he  is  a  proselj'te."      *      *      *      * 

"Behold,  one  finds  an  infant  cast  out,  and  baptizes 
him  in  the  name  of  a  servant.  Do  thou  also  circum^ 
cise  him  in  the  name  of  a  servant.  But  if  thou  bap- 
tize him  in  the  name  of  a  freeman;  do  thou  also  cir- 
cumcise him  in  the  name  of  a  freeman." 

The  origin  of  this  practice  is  given  in  the  same 
author,  thus :  "By  three  things  did  Israel  enter  into 
covenant,  by  circumcision,  and  baptism,  and  sacri- 
fice." Circumcision  was  in  Egypt,  as  it  is  written 
"No  uncircumcised  person  shall  eat  thereof,"  i.  e.  of 
the  Passover.  (Ex.  12:  48.)  Baptism  as  in  the  wil- 
derness just  before  the  giving  of  the  law ;  as  it  is 
9a 


100 

written,  sanctify  them  to-day  and  to-morrow  and  let 
them  wash  their  clothes.  Ex.  19:  10.  And  sacrifice, 
as  it  is  said,  "And  he  set  young  men  of  the  children 
of  Israel  which  offered  bm-nt  offerings,"  &c.  Exod. 
24;  5.  And  so  in  all  ages  when  an  ethnic  [a  Gen- 
tile] is  willing  to  enter  into  covenant,  &c. — "he  must 
be  circumcised  and  bring  a  sacrifice."     Again 

"Israel  does  not  enter  into  covenant  but  by  these 
three  things,  by  circumcision,  baptism,  and  peace- 
offering  ;  and  the  proselytes  in  like  manner." 
Again 

"As  you  are,  so  shall  the  stranger  be.  Num.  15: 
15.  As  you  are,  that  is,  as  was  done  to  your  fathers. 
And  what  was  done  to  them?  Your  fathers  did  not 
enter  into  covenant  but  by  circumcision,  and  bap- 
tism and  sprinkling  of  blood.  So  neither  do  prose- 
lytes enter  into  covenant  but  by  circumcision,  and 
baptism  and  sprinkling  of  blood." 

Gregory  Nazianzen  who  lived  A.  D.  S60,  saj's  (as 
quoted  by  Dr.  Wall)  "Mcses  gave  a  baptism,  but 
that  was  with  water  only.  And  before  that  they 
were  baptized  in  the  cloud  and  in  the  sea.  But  these 
were  but  a  type  (or  figure)  of  ours ;  as  Paul  also  un- 
derstands it."     1  Cor.  10  :  1,  2.     Again 

The  learned  Mr.  Selden,  with  whom  also  agrees 
Dr.  Hammond,  "observes  that  the  saying  of  St.  Paul 
(1  Cor.  10:1,  2,)  All  our  fathers  were  baptized  unto 
Moses  in  the  cloud  and  in  the  sea,  would  have  been 
difficult  for  those  to  whom  St.  Paul  wrote,  to  make 
any  sense  of;  had  it  not  been  a  thing  well  known 
at  that  time  when  the  apostle  wrote,  that  the  Jews 


101 

looked  upon  themselves  as  having  been  entered  into 
covenant  by  baptism ;  and  that  St.  Paul  spoke  as 
alluding  to  that."  See  Wall's  History  of  Infant  Bap- 
tism, Vol.  1st. 

The  baptism  of  the  Israelites  unto  Moses  in  the 
cloud  and  in  the  sea,  (which  seems  to  have  been  de- 
signed for  a  type  of  this  ordinance  and  was  proba- 
bly the  origin  of  the  idea  which  they  had  of  it)  in- 
cluded the  whole  congregation,  old  and  young.  So 
also  the  command  "sanctify,"  "wash,"  &:c.,  (Ex.  19: 
10)  which  was  interpreted  by  the  Jewish  rabbles,  as 
referring  to  baptism,  was  to  be  performed  by  the 
people  collectively  and  of  course  embraced  children 
as  well  as  parents.  And  growing  out  of  one  or 
both  of  those  events,  there  arose  the  practice  of  bap- 
tizing proselytes  from  the  heathen,  together  with 
their  families ;  the  number  of  which  in  process  of 
time  became  so  great,  according  to  Josephus,  (see 
Antiq.  Book  13,  Chap.  9  and  11,)  that  at  the  period 
of  our  Saviour's  incarnation,  infant  baptism  must 
have  been  as  well  known  among  the  Jews,  as  it  is 
now  in  America  or  Great  Britain.  Our  argument 
from  all  this  in  favor  of  infant  baptism  as  an  ordi- 
nance in  the  christian  church  is  the  following : 

1.  It  renders  it  probable  that  John  the  Baptist  and 
Christ  himself  baptized  infants  as  well  as  adults. 
It  appears  from  John  1 :  25,  that  the  Jews  expected 
that  when  the  Messiah  should  come  and  introduce  a 
new  dispensation,  this  ordinance  would  be  adminis- 
tered as  an  expression  of  their  faith  in  the  promised 
Redeemer.     And  from  John  4:1,  and  Acts  19:4 


102 

we  learn  that  Christ  and  John  the  Baptist  did  so  ad- 
minister it.  The  inference  is  highly  probable  that 
they  baptized  the  same  classes  of  persons,  as  had 
been  accustomed  to  receive  this  ordinance  when 
proselyted  from  the  Gentiles,  i.  e.  children  as  well  as 
parents.* 

2.  It   shows    what .  interpetration    the    Apostles 
would  put  on  the  commission  of  their  risen  Saviour, 

*VVe  have  gone  no  farther  than  to  say  it  is  very  probable  that  they  bap- 
tized infants.  The  only  circumstance  which  renders  this  at  all  doubtful 
is  that  the  christian  dispensation  was  not  yet  commenced  and  therefore 
the  ordinance  as  administered  by  them  was  not  initiatory  as  in  the  case 
of  Gentile  proselytes — it  being  administered  by  them  to  Jews  only,  who 
with  their  children  were  already  members  of  the  Old  Testament  church. 
Yet  as  their  ministry  was  designed  to  "prepare"  the  people  for  the  re- 
ception of  the  Messiah,  and  as  their  baptism  was  a  sign  or  pledge  on 
the  part  of  those  who  received  it  that  they  would  embrace  him  as  their 
Saviour  ;  it  is  reasonable  to  conclude  that  they  conformed  to  the  usual 
practice  of  their  ancestors  when  the  latter  at  different  times  entered  into 
covenant  with  God,  viz:  to  act  for  their  families  as  well  as  themselves  ; 
and  if  so,  that  after  giving  their  pledge  to  embrace  Christ,  not  only  they 
but  their  children  received  the  rite  of  baptism  which  was  the  sign  or  to- 
ken of  this  pledge.  If  as  our  Baptist  brethren  maintain,  John's  bap- 
tism was  christian  baptism,  this  argument  which  is  only  probable  ac- 
cording to  the  preceding  view,  becomes  conclusive.  By  making  the  or- 
dinance as  administered  by  him  initiatory,  the  analogy  between  that  and 
Gentile  proselyte  baptism  is  complete,  and  it  is  rendered  quite  certain 
that  he  baptized  infants ;  and  also  that  Christ  and  his  disciples  who 
were  baptizing  at  the  same  time  did  so  likewise.  But  we  are  disposed 
to  place  the  argument  on  the  former  ground,  though  its  strength  is  there- 
by somewhat  diminished  ;  because  the  Jewish  ritual  continued  in  full 
force  till  Christ's  death ;  and  hence  John's  ministry  as  well  as  Christ's 
own  ministry  on  earth  belonged  to  the  Old  Testament  dispensation. 
Their  ministry  it  is  true  brought  that  dispensation  to  a  close,  but  was 
still  performed  under  it.  The  new  commenced  with  the  completion  of 
Christ's  mediatorial  work  on  earth  and  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit ; 
which  dispensation  is  accordingly  called  by  Paul  "the  ministration  of 
the  Spirit." 


103 

''Go  teach  all  nations  baptizing  them,"  &c.  Being 
already  familiar  with  the  ordinance  as  administered 
to  proselytes,  they  would  unavoidably  (without  spe- 
cial instructions  to  the  contrary)  understand  their 
commission,  as  authorizing  and  requiring  them  to 
baptize  the  children  and  servants  of  those  house- 
holds, the  heads  of  which  should  be  converted  to 
Christ. 

3.  It  proves  when  taken  in  connexion  with  facts 
recorded  in  the  New  Testament,  that  baptism  occu- 
pies the  same  place  in  the  christian  church  that  cir- 
cumcision had  done  before  among  the  Jews  ;  or  rath- 
er perhaps  the  same  place  that  circumcision  and 
baptism  together,  had  done  among  Gentile  prose- 
lytes. As  Christ  did  not  institute  baptism  as  a  new 
rite,  but  adopted  an  ordinance  already  in  existence, 
and  as  this  ordinance  had  always  before  this  been 
connected  with  circumcision,  it  w^ould  be  natural  to 
infer  that  the  two  sustained  an  intimate  relation  to 
each  other;  and  that  if  the  one  was  dropped  and  the 
other  retained,  the  part  retained  w^ould  be  as  exten- 
sive in  its  application  as  it  had  been  before  the  other 
part  was  laid  aside.  Circumcision  was  not  contin- 
ued under  the  christian  dispensation  for  much  the 
same  reason  that  animal  sacrifices  were  discontinued 
as  a  part  of  religious  worship ;  and  that  the  lamb 
which  had  been  used  in  celebrating  the  Passover,  was 
not  made  a  part  of  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  sup- 
per. Prayer  and  praise  were  employed  by  the  pious 
under  the  Old  Testament  as  well  as  the  New ;  with 
which  under  the  Old  they  connected  the  offering  of 


104 

sacrifices.  Tliis  was  laid  aside  after  the  death  of 
Christ,  as  being  inappropriate  to  the  christian  dis- 
pensation, while  prayer  and  praise  were  retained  as 
permanent  acts  of  devotion.  Bread  and  wine  were 
used  in  the  Passover  as  well  as  the  lamb ;  but  when 
our  blessed  Lord  instituted  the  supper,  he  made  no 
use  of  the  lamb,  because  that  would  not  be  adapted 
to  the  ordinance,  after  the  Lamb  of  God  should  be 
oflered  up  once  for  all ;  but  he  retained  the  bread 
and  wine  as  standing  memorials  of  his  death.  In 
like  manner  circumcision  was  not  included  in  our 
Saviour's  commission  to  "teach  and  baptize,"  be- 
cause it  was  unsuitable  to  perpetuate  in  the  christian 
church  a  rite  which  could  not  be  performed  without 
the  shedding  of  blood ;  and  because  water  alone  was 
a  more  appropriate  emblem  of  the  ministration  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  which  was  introduced  when  our  Sa- 
viour ascended  to  heaven.  But  the  part  which  he 
retained,  viz :  baptism,  was  continued  on  the  same 
principle,  (as  to  the  persons  entitled  to  receive  the 
rite)  that  it  would  have  been  if  circumcision  had 
been  perpetuated  along  with  it.  This  will  be  mani- 
fest when  we  notice  attentively  two  or  three  facts  re- 
corded in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles. 

Certain  Jewish  converts  from  Judea  produced  un- 
easiness in  the  minds  of  the  members  of  the  Gentile 
church  in  Antioch  because  they  did  not  practice  cir- 
cumcision. Acts  15:  1,  5.  Paul  and  Barnabas 
were  sent  to  Jerusalem  to  consult  the  Apostles  and 
elders  on  the  subject ;  and  after  much  discussion,  a 
decree  was  issued  to  the  effect  that  this  was  not  re- 


105 

quired  of  the  churches  gathered  from  among  the 
Gentiles.  Acts  15:  6-29.  Not  long  afterwards  Paul 
being  again  at  Jerusalem  was  informed  by  James 
and  others  that  the  Jewish  believers  in  that  city  were 
suspicious  of  him,  because  they  heard  that  he  had 
"taught  all  the  Jews  which  were  among  the  Gentiles 
to  forsake  Moses,  saying  that  they  ought  not  to  cir- 
cumcise their  childi'en;"  (fee,  which  was  not  true  ; 
and  to  counteract  the  injurious  effect  of  this  false 
rumor  in  diminishing  his  influence  among  them  and 
to  regain  their  confidence  in  him  as  a  preacher  and 
an  Apostle,  he  by  the  advice  of  James  and  the  eld- 
ers, purified  himself  according  to  the  Mosaic  law ; 
designing  thereby  to  show  that  though  circumcision 
was  no  longer  obligatory  and  must  not  be  enforced 
on  the  Gentile  churches,  he  did  not  forbid  the  Jews 
to  practice  it;  and  that  "all  might  know  that  those 
things,  whereof  they  were  informed  concerning  him, 
were  nothing,"  he  performed  the  ceremony  of  puri- 
fication publicly  in  the  temple.     Acts  21 :  21-26. 

From  these  passages  of  scripture  it  appears  that 
the  Gentile  converts  omitted  circumcision  and  that 
the  Jewish  converts  continued  to  practice  it- — both 
of  them  with  the  approbation  of  the  Apostles.  See 
farther  proof  of  the  same  thing  in  Acts  16:  3,  4; 
where  Paul  circumcised  Timothy  because  of  the 
Jews,  but  delivered  to  the  Gentile  churches  which  he 
visited,  the  decrees  of  the  Apostles  and  elders  at 
Jerusalem,  which  have  just  been  referred  to,  exoner- 
ating them  from  the  observance  of  this  rite.  Both 
of  these  I'acts,  though  opposite  in  their  character, 


106 

bear  in  favor  of  infant  baptism.  Among  the 
Gentile  converts  infant  baptism  must  have  been 
in  general  use ;  otherwise  their  Jewish  breth- 
ren who  complained  because  they  did  not  prac- 
tice circumcision  would  have  complained  of  this  also. 
Why  did  they  think  circumcision  obligatory  on  Gen- 
tile believers?  Upon  no  other  conceivable  ground, 
than  because  they  regarded  the  law  concerning  pros- 
elytes as  being  binding  upon  them.  But  they  were 
as  particular  in  requiring  proselytes  to  be  baptized 
as  to  be  circumcised ;  and  as  these  rites  in  the  case 
of  proselytes  were  always  performed  upon  their 
children  as  w^ell  as  upon  themselves,  the  silence  of 
the  Jews  with  regard  to  baptism,  affords  strong  proof 
not  only  that  baptism  w^as  practiced  among  them, 
which  all  admit,  but  that  it  was  administered  in  such 
a  way  as  to  be  acceptable  to  the  Jews,  who  were  as 
tenacious  in  having  the  children  of  proselytes  bapti- 
zed as  their  parents,  and  w^ho  w^ould  most  certainly 
have  complained,  if  the  former  had  been  neglected. 
With  regard  to  Jew  ish  believers,  whatever  may  be 
thought  concerning  their  practice  of  infant  baptism 
at  that  time,  one  thing  is  certain,  that  whether  they 
administered  baptism  to  their  children  or  not,  they 
continued  to  practice  infant  circumcision.  "They'* 
[the  believing  Jews]  says  James  to  Paul,  "are  inform- 
ed of  thee,  that  thou  teachest  all  the  Jews  which  are 
among  the  Gentiles  to  forsake  Moses,  saying,  that 
they  ought  not  to  circumcise  their  childi'en,"  &c.,     * 

*  *     "Do  therefore  this  that  we  say  to  thee"     *    * 

*  *     "and  all  may  know  that  those  things,  w^hereof 


107 

they  were  informed  concerning  thee,  are  nothing/' 
Acts  21 :  21,  23,  24.  From  this  it  is  manifest  that 
the  Apostles  gave  their  sanction  to  the  circumcision 
of  children  among  the  believing  Jews ;  which  proves 
conclusively  that  they  recognized  the  doctrine  of  in- 
fant membership  in  the  christian  church.  The  old 
testament  dispensation  was  passing  away — it  had 
already  passed  away  so  far  as  to  be  no  longer  obli- 
gatory. The  New  Testament  church  was  fully  or- 
ganized. The  Jewish  believers  had  been  baptized 
into  the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ;  or  as  it  is  expressed 
by  the  sacred  historian,  "in  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,"  thereby  declaring  themselves  to  be  subjects 
of  the  Messiah's  kingdom.  But  the  design  of  cir- 
cumcision must  have  been  the  same  in  their  minds 
as  formerly.  If  it  was  ever  the  seal  of  church  mem- 
bership it  was  so  then,  and  yet  the  Apostles  permit- 
ted them  to  affix  this  seal  to  their  children ;  by  which 
permission  they  virtually  said,  "your  children  sustain 
the  same  relation  to  the  church  that  they  did  before 
the  christian  dispensation  was  introduced."  Circum- 
cision was  allowed  (as  we  may  reasonably  believe) 
on  account  of  the  strong  partialities  of  the  Jews  to 
this  ancient  rite  and  their  unwillingness  at  once  to 
surrender  it.  But  as  they  obtained  from  3"ear  to 
year  additional  light  with  reference  to  the  New  Tes- 
tament dispensation,  they  at  length  saw  tlie  propriety 
of  its  discontinuance,  and  hence  in  due  time  nothing 
more  is  heard  about  it.  Baptism  having  entirely 
superseded  it  and  taken  its  place,  must  have  been 

administered  to  the  same  classes  of  persons  as  had 
10 


108 

previously  received  the  ordinance  of  circumcision,  i. 
e.  to  children  as  well  as  adults.     This  supposition  is 
the  only  one  w^hich  enables  us  to  account  in  a  satis- 
factory way  for  the  silent  manner  in  which  the  former 
rite  fell  into   disuse.     They  were  strongly  attached 
to  the  ordinance  itself,   and  consented  to  give  it  up 
only  by  degrees.     But  they  valued  still  more  highly 
that  relation  to  the  church  of  which  circumcision  was 
the  seal ;  and   if  the    surrender   of  that   particular 
seal  involved    also  the    exclusion  of  their  children 
from  the  ecclesiastical  relation  which  they  so  highly 
prized,  some   doubt  would  certainly  have  been  ex- 
j)ressed,   some  inquiries   made,  some  remonstrance 
offered.     But  as  there  is  not  a  word  of  either,  we 
cannot  doubt  that  baptism  was  understood  by  them 
to  occupy  the  same  position  in  the  christian  church 
\vhich  circumcision  had   done  in  former  times;  and 
hence  that  while   they  ceased  to  circumcise    their 
children,  they  only  laid  aside  one  seal  to  employ  an- 
other better  adapted  to  the  gospel  dispensation. 

The  history  contained  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles 
reaches  down  to  more  then  half  of  the  first  century, 
and  the  Apostle  John  lived  till  about  the  close  of  it. 
During  that  time  entire  harmony  appears  to  have 
prevailed  both  among  Jewish  and  Gentile  christians 
on  the  subject  of  baptism.  After  the  controversy 
between  the  Jews  and  Gentiles  concerning  circum- 
cision was  settled,  there  seems  to  have  been  no  far- 
ther disagreement  concerning  the  ordinances  of  the 
church.  And  as  the  Gentile  churches  were  compo- 
sed of  "prcselytcs"  from  the  heathen,  and  the  Jew- 


109 

isli  churches  of  the  descendants  of  Abraham,  we 
need  be  at  no  loss  to  determine  after  what  has  been 
said,  on  what  principles  they  harmonized. 

About  forty  years  after  the  death  of  the  Apostle 
John,  hved  Justin  Martyr,  (A.  D.  140)  who  though 
he  discourses  on  the  subject  of  baptism  gives  no  inti- 
mation that  there  was  any  controversy  among  chris- 
tians on  this  subject.  He  alludes  however  to  Col.  2: 
11,  in  such  terms  as  to  show  that  he  understood  the 
phrase  "circumcision  of  Christ,"  to  mean  christian 
baptism,  and  that  this  came  in  the  place  of  circum- 
cision ;  which  is  the  view  generally  taken  of  the  pas- 
sage by  those  who  practice  infant  baptism,  and  is 
regarded  by  them  as  a  proof  text  in  favor  •^f  the 
doctrine. 

Less  than  thirty  years  from  the  time  of  Justin 
Martyr  was  Jreneus;  (A.  D.  167)  whose  testimony 
is  very  explicit  as  to  the  practice  of  the  church  in  his 
days:  "He  [i.  e.  Christ]  came  to  save  all  persons 
by  himself:  all,  I  mean,  who  by  him  are  regenerated 
[baptized]  unto  God:  infants  and  little  ones,  and 
children,  and  youths,  and  elder  persons."  Dr.  Wall 
quotes  several  passages  from  Clemens  Alexandrinus, 
then  a  cotemporary  of  Ireneus,  in  which  occur  the 
words  "regenerate"  and  "baptize"  i.  e.  the  Greek 
words  which  are  so  translated;  in  which  passages 
they  are  evidently  used  as  synonymous ;  thus  ren- 
dering it  very  probable,  if  not  certain  that  Ireneus 
in  the  quotation  given  above,  employed  the  word  re- 
generate in  the  same  sense.* 

*The  writers  of  the  second  century  as  is  shown  by  Dr.  Dodridge,  em- 


110 

Between  thirty  and  forty  years  later  (A.  D.  200) 
lived  Tertulian  and  Origen.  The  former  recom- 
mended the  delay  of  baptism  till  the  child  was  grown 
up  ;  but  the  reason  assigned  is  not  that  in  his  judg- 
ment infant  baptism  was  unauthorized  by  the  scrip- 
tures, concerning  which  he  says  nothing;  but  that  it 
is  more  profitable  for  children  to  receive  the  ordi- 
nance after  they  have  been  instructed.  Origen  says 
^•that  the  church  had  from  the  Apostles  a  tradition 
[or  ordei']  to  give  baptism  even  to  infants."  And  as- 
suming infant  baptism  to  be  the  acknowledged  doc- 
trine of  the  church  he  discusses  the  question  con- 
cerning its  efficacy  in  removing  the  pollution  of  ori- 
ginal sin. 

Fifty  years  afterwards  flourished  Cyprian,  who 
presided  at  the  council  of  Carthage ;  (held  A.  D. 
253)  before  which  bod}"  was  brought  a  question  con- 
cerning infant  baptism.  But  the  inquiry  did  not  re- 
late to  the  scriptural  authority  for  baptizing  infants. 
It  assumed  this  as  granted.  The  question  discussed 
was  whether  christians,  in  administering  baptism, 
ought  to  conform  to  the  Jewish  law  concerning  cir- 

ployed  the  word  regenerate  for  baptize,  not  because  they  believed  in  the 
doctrine  of  baptismal  regeneration,  in  the  same  sense  as  is  now  held  by 
some,  but  because  baptism  being  the  outward  sign  of  that  invisible 
grace  which  was  denoted  by  regeneration,  and  being  administered  imme- 
diately after  a  person  professed  to  be  regenerated,  was  so  nearly  simul* 
taneous  with  the  other  in  point  of  time,  as  to  give  occasion  to  its  being 
expressed  by  the  term  which  more  truly  and  scripturally  belonged  to  the 
change  which  preceded  it ;  though  not,  (he  thinks)  ''so  universally  as 
some  have  concluded."  ''Clemens  Alexandrinus"hesays  ''plainly  uses 
tlie  word  regenerate,  (Strom,  lib.  ii,  page  42,'))  for  a  change  of  character 
bi/  true  repentance.'''  See  Preface  to  Dodridge's  Sermons  on  Regenera- 
tion, wliere  this  subject  is  discussed  at  some  length. 


Ill 

cumcision ;  which  was  to  circumcise  the  child  when 
it  was  eight  days  old;  or  whether  it  was  lawful  to 
baptize  an  infant  at  an  earUer  age. 

Thus  for  one  hundi'ed  and  fifty  years  subsequent 
to  the  decease  of  the  last  Apostle,  which  was  253 
years  after  Christ,  we  have  an  unbroken  chain  of 
evidence,  proving  in  the  clearest  manner  that  infant 
baptism  was  generally  practiced  in  the  church  du- 
ring all  that  period,  and  that  it  was  regarded  by  its 
advocates  as  having  been  handed  down  from  the 
Apostles.  Proof  stronger  than  this  cannot  as  we 
think  be  reasonably  expected  or  desired.  We  might 
extend  the  history  through  many  centuries  after- 
wards with  the  same  results  but  we  deem  it  unnec- 
essary. 

In  conclusion,  it  may  be  useful  to  recapitulate,  in 
as  brief  a  manner  as  possible,  the  main  arguments 
which  have  been  adduced. 

1 .  The  christian  church  is  essentially  the  sa  me  as 
that  which  was  constituted  by  God  in  the  time  of 
Abraham;  in  which  infant  membership  was  distinctly 
recognized  and  circumcision  administered  as  its  sign 
and  seal.  Therefore  the  children  of  behevers  now 
are  members  of  the  christian  church,  and  ought  to 
receive  the  seal  of  membership;  which  under  the 
New  Testament  dispensation  is  baptism. 

2.  Christ  expressly  taught  by  the  words  ''of  such 
is  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  that  little  children  would 
compose   a  part  of  his    visible  church.     Therefore 
they  are  to  receive  baptism  which  was  appointed  by 
him  to  be  the  seal  of  membership. 

10a 


112 

3.  Peter  also  taught  the  doctrine  of  infant  mem- 
bership, by  saying  that  the  promise  contained  in  the 
Abrahamic  covenant  "to  be  a  God  to  him  and  his 
seed,"  was  in  force  to  his  posterity  and  their  child- 
ren on  the  day  of  Pentecost ;  and  since  he  urged 
them  by  this  consideration  to  be  baptized  into  the 
christian  faith,  it  is  strongly  implied  that  their  child- 
ren would  be  entitled  to  this  ordinance  as  well  as 
their  parents. 

4.  Paul  asserted  that  the  children  of  heathen  pa- 
rents one  of  whom  was  a  convert  to  the  christian 
religion,  were  accounted  "/^o/z/,"  i.  e.  proper  persons 
to  be  dedicated  to  God;  and  hence  we  infer  that 
baptism  which  was  the  prescribed  ordinance  of  ded- 
ication to  God  at  that  time  ought  to  be  administered 
to  them. 

5.  When  the  commission  of  our  blessed  Lord  to 
his  Apostles  was  given  them  to  baptize  the  nations, 
the  practice  of  baptizing  Gentile  proselytes,  h-ad  been 
long  in  use,  and  in  all  such  cases  the  children  of 
proselytes  were  baptized  as  well  as  their  parents. 
Hence  the  Apostles  must  have  understood  their  com- 
mission as  having  now  the  same  latitude  of  meaning, 
and  have  practiced  accordingly,  unless  expressly  told 
to  the  contrary,  of  which  there  is  no  intimation. 

6.  In  conformity  with  the  above  view  of  this  com- 
mission, there   are   on  record  several  instances  of 
household  baptism — a  record  made  in  just  such  lan- 
guage, as  if  made  now  by  a  missionary  to  the  hea- 
then, would  convey  the  idea  that  the  children  of 


113 

their  converts  were  baptized  on  the  faith  of  their 
parents. 

7.  For  sometime  after  circumcision  was  laid  aside 
by  Gentile  believers,  it  continued  to  be  practiced  by 
those  churches  which  were  composed  of  believing 
Jews ;  and  in  the  latter  (as  is  distinctly  taught)  they 
circumcised  their  children ;  thereby  claiming  under 
an  Apostolic  sanction,  the  church  membership  of 
their  offspring.  Hence  we  infer  that  the  Gentile 
churches  held  the  same  doctrine,  and  that  having 
laid  aside  circumcision  they  practiced  infant  baptism. 
And  farther  that  the  Jewish  believers,  who  for  a 
while  employed  the  old  testament  seal,  but  in  due 
time,  when  they  saw  the  propriety  of  substituting 
baptism  in  its  place,  ceased  to  use  the  rite  of  cir- 
cumcision, would  as  a  matter  of  course,  unless  for- 
bidden, apply  the  ordinance  of  baptism  to  their 
children. 

8.  Accordingly  after  the  close  of  the  record  of  the 
first  planting  of  the  churches,  as  contained  in  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  no  difference  of  opinion  ap- 
pears to  have  existed  for  several  centuries  concern- 
ing the  scriptural  authority  for  infant  baptism,  and 
the  practice  which  was  universal  in  the  church,  with 
a  single  exception,  was  regarded  by  all  as  having 
the  sanction  of  Apostolic  example. 

To  invalidate  these  arguments,  it  is  not  sufficient 
to  refer  to  those  texts  of  Scripture  which  teach  be- 
lievers baptism ;  because  these  passages  are  under- 
stood in  the  same  way  by  poedo-baptists  (i.  e.  by 
those  who  baptize  children)  as  by  their  baptist  breth- 


114 

ren.  Neither  is  it  sufficient  to  adduce  examples  of 
believers'  baptism,  because  these  are  admitted  by 
those  who  notwithstanding  baptize  infants.  The 
eunuch  for  instance  beUeved  and  was  baptized.  The 
record  is  as  consistent  with  a  beUef  in  household 
baptism  as  with  its  opposite.  He  was  on  a  jour- 
ney, and  for  aught  that  appears,  had  no  attendants 
except  the  driver  of  his  chariot.  Of  course  there 
could  have  been  no  record  of  a  household  baptism, 
because  he  had  no  household  to  be  baptized. 

Before  the  force  of  these  arguments  can  be  de- 
stroyed, it  must  be  shown  that  God  having  once  ad- 
mitted the  children  of  believing  parents  to  member- 
ship in  his  church,  deprived  them  at  some  subse- 
quent time  of  this  privilege;  or  that  the  christian 
church  is  a  totally  different  body  and  constituted  on 
a  different  basis  from  the  church  in  the  time  of  Abra- 
ham, and  that  we  cannot  properly  reason  from  one 
to  the  other;  that  circumcision  was  not  a  seal  of 
church  membership,  but  though  instituted  in  a  sin- 
gle family  four  hundred  years  before  the  descendants 
of  Abraham  became  a  nation,  was  nevertheless  a 
mark  of  national  distinction,  and  that  baptism  did 
not  come  in  its  place ;  that  notwithstanding  the  un- 
doubted fact  of  the  existence  among  the  Jews  of 
proselyte  baptism,  including  children  as  well  as 
adults,  the  Apostles  did  not  interpret  their  commis- 
sion "to  teach  and  baptize,"  agreeably  to  this  com- 
mon and  well  known  practice,  but  understood  it  as 
authorizing  them  to  baptize  believers  only ;  that 
when  Christ  said  concerning  little  children  who  were 


115 

brought  to  him,  "of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven," 
he  did  not  mean  Httle  children  in  age,  but  those  who 
possessed  the  temper  of  httle  children ;  or  if  he  did, 
that  he  had  no  reference  to  their  membership  in  the 
christian  church  or  even  to  their  future  happiness  in 
heaven;  that  the  households  of  L^^dia  and  the  jailor 
had  no  children  in  them,  or  if  they  contained  child- 
ren, that  these  were  baptized  on  their  own  profession 
of  faith  and  not  on  th  ",  faith  of  those  pious  house- 
holders; that  Jewish  bt  'ievers  who  were  so  tenacious 
in  practicing  infant  circL  mcision,  as  to  )  e  permitted 
by  the  Apostles  to  continue  it  for  some  ti.  le  after  the 
commencement  of  the  christian  dispensation,  not 
only  abandoned  this  rite  in  due  time,  but  also  the 
doctrine  of  infant  membership  of  which  it  was  the 
seal,  and  consented  without  remonstrance  or  objec- 
tion of  any  kind,  to  have  their  children  excluded 
from  the  visible  church  and  to  stand  in  the  same  re- 
lation (being  neither  circumcised  nor  baptized)  as 
that  which  hath  hitherto  been  sustained  by  the  un- 
circumcised  Gentiles;  and  finally,  that  as  soon  as 
the  last  of  the  Apostles  had  left  the  world,  christians 
began  immediately  and  universally  to  mistake  their 
teaching  and  their  practice,  and  to  fall  into  the  error 
of  baptizing  the  children  of  believing  parents,  and 
also  to  think,  contrary  to  the  truth,  that  in  doing 
thus,  they  were  imitating  the  example  of  inspired 
men.  Until  all  this  can  be  made  to  appear,  we  shall 
maintain  our  belief  in  the  doctrine  of  infant  bap- 
tism, and  regard  the  ordinance  both  as  a  duty  and  a 
privilege. 


116 

We  repeat  however  what  we  said  in  substance,  at 
the  close  of  the  first  part.  Towards  the  respectable 
body  of  christians  from  whom  we  differ  on  this  sub- 
ject, we  entertain  kind  feelings  and  extend  to  them 
the  hand  of  christian  charity.  In  our  judgment  they 
would  find  it  greatly  to  their  advantage,  could  they 
change  their  view  s  and  their  practice  in  this  particu- 
lar. But  as  they  think  otherwise,  it  is  not  our  pur- 
pose to  engage  in  angry  controversy  with  them,  or 
indulge  in  severe  remarks  concerning  what  we  deem 
to  be  their  error. 

To  those  for  whose  special  benefit  this  little  vol- 
ume is  designed,  we  may  be  allowed  to  speak  with 
freedom.  Though  j'ou  should  not  be  indifi^erent  to 
truth,  nor  undervalue  its  importance,  but  on  the  con- 
trary, "buy  the  truth  and  sell  it  not,"  and  "contend 
earnestly  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints;'' 
yet  you  must  not  forget  the  Divine  injunction  to 
"keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace." 
Exercise  christian  forbearance  and  com'tesy  towards 
those  who  differ  frem  you  and  strive  rather  to  extend 
the  boundaries  of  Christ's  kingdom  among  uncon- 
verted men,  than  to  gain  over  proselytes  from 
other  evangelical  christian  churches.  The  field  for 
christian  exertion  is  sufficiently  ample  for  all  to  op- 
erate in  without  sectarian  jealousy ;  and  love  for 
souls  is  a  motive  which  ought  to  be  sufficiently  strong 
to  kindle  and  keep  alive  jour  zeal,  without  the  ex- 
citement of  unhallowed,  partizan  emulation. 

We  have  only  to  add  in  this  place  that  if  you  have 
been  satisfied  with  our  views  thus  far,  do  not  lav 


117 


aside  the  book  till  you  shall  have  perused  what  fol- 
lows ;  in  which  it  will  be  our  purpose  to  consider  in 
a  brief  manner  the  importance  of  this  ordinance. 
As  that  is  a  point  of  great  practical  utilitj^  we  be- 
speak for  it  your  serious  attention. 


PART  III. 

BIPORTANCE    OF    CHRISTIAN    BAPTISM. 

That  baptism  is  important  may  be  assmned ;  be- 
cause our  blessed  Lord  would  not  have  perpetuated 
a  useless  ceremony  as  a  standing  ordinance  of  the 
christian  chui'ch.  To  attempt  a  proof  therefore  of 
this  simple  proposition  would  be  superfluous.  Hence 
our  object  will  be  not  to  prove,  but  illustrate;  to 
show  wherein  its  importance  consists ;  who  may  ex- 
pect to  be  benefitted  by  it;  how  God  makes  use  of 
it  as  the  medium  of  bestowing  his  covenant  mercies; 
what  duties  it  involves,  and  the  incentives  which  it 
furnishes  for  the  faithful  discharge  of  these  duties. 
Questions  embracing  these  and  other  kindred  points, 
ought  not  to  be  treated  with  indifference  by  any  who 
have  immortal  souls,  or  to  w^hom  God  has  committed 
the  responsibility  of  caring  for  the  souls  of  others. 

I.  Baptism  not  a  saving  ordinance. 

The  importance  of  baptism  does  not  lie  in  its  be- 
ing as  some  maintain,  the  invariable  channel  for  the 
communication  of  saving  grace.  The  doctrine  of 
baptismal  regeneration  has  assumed  two  aspects — 
one  respecting  adults,  the  other  infants.  Those  who 
hold  the  former  rely  mainly  upon  the  following  texts: 
"Born  of  water;"  (John  3:  5.)  "Washing  of  regen- 
eration;" (Titus  3;  5.)  "Repent  and  be  baptized  ev- 
il 


120 

ery  one  of  you  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  the 
remission  of  sins."  (Acts  2:  38.) 

With  regard  to  the  first  two  phrases,  though  there 
is  an  allusion  to  water  baptism,  it  is  merely  an  allu- 
sion. The  ordinance  is  referred  to  only  as  the  basis 
of  a  figure  to  describe  the  work  ot  the  Holy  Spirit 
on  the  heart,  of  which  baptism  is  a  sign  or  emblem. 
This  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  in  both  passages 
the  Holy  Spirit's  work  is  immediately  mentioned  as 
explanatory  of  the  preceding  allusions;  thereby 
showing  that  the  former  are  to  be  interpreted  figu- 
ratively and  not  literally,  thus :  "Born  of  water  and 
of  the  Spirit."  "Washing  of  regeneration  and  re- 
newing of  the  Holy  Ghost."  The  connecting  copu- 
lative "and,"  as  the  best  critics  admit,  may  be  trans- 
lated "even;"  which  rendering  shows  more  clearly 
than  is  now  done  in  the  English  version,  that  the  lat- 
ter clause  is  exegetical  of  the  former.  The  context, 
particularly  in  John  3 :  5,  proves  the  same  thing.  In 
the  following  verses  our  Saviour  makes  no  farther 
reference  to  water,  but  predicates  his  reasoning  alto- 
gether on  the  other  clause,  viz :  being  born  of  the 
Spirit.  The  consequences  of  such  an  exposition 
are  likewise  sufficient  to  prove  it  incorrect.  If  water 
baptism  be  meant  except  by  way  of  allusion  as 
above  explained,  it  would  follow  that  baptism  is  es- 
sential to  salvation ;  which  few  we  presume,  are  wil- 
ling to  maintain. 

In  the  other  passage  "Repent  and  be  baptized, 
&c.,  for  the  remission  of  sins,"  the  Apostle  Peter,  by 
a  figure  of  speech  which  often  occurs  in  Scripture, 


121 

called  metonymy,  employed  the  sign  for  the  thing 
signified  by  it;  i.  e.  he  used  the  term  baptism  in- 
stead of  faith,  because  to  be  baptized  in  the  name 
of  Christ  was  a  profession  of  their  faith  in  him  as 
the  Son  of  God  and  the  Saviour  of  men,  whose  blood 
was  the  foundation  of  the  remission  of  sins,  and 
without  the  shedding  of  which,  remission  could  not 
be  bestowed.  See  Mat.  26 :  28,  and  Heb.  9  :  22.  In 
Acts  5:  31,  remission  of  sins  is  connected  with  re- 
pentance, and  in  Chap.  13  :  38,  39,  with  faith  in 
Christ,  without  the  mention  of  baptism  at  all.  Will 
any  one  pretend  that  there  are  two  ways  of  obtain- 
ing remission  ?  one  by  means  of  these  graces  and 
the  other  by  baptism?  If  not  then  it  is  obvious  that 
baptism  is  mentioned  in  connexion  with  remission, 
az  being  a  sign  of  these  graces,  through  which  in- 
strumentally,  we  become  interested  in  the  benefits 
of  Christ's  death,  which  is  the  meritorious  and  pro- 
curing cause  of  our  forgiveness. 

The  doctrine  which  maintains  the  saving  efiicacy 
of  water  baptism  is  disproved — 

1 .  By  the  circumstance  that  faith  in  Christ  is  re- 
quired in  order  to  entitle  an  adult  to  receive  this  or- 
dinance. "See  here  is  water"  said  the  eunuch  to 
Philip,  (Acts  8:  36,  37.)  "what  doth  hinder  me  to  be 
baptized?"  And  Philip  said,  "If  thou  believest  with 
all  thy  heart  thou  mayest." 

2.  By  the  analogy  between  baptism  and  circum- 
cision. "He  [Abraham]  received  the  sign  of  circum- 
cision a  seal  of  the  righteousness  of  the  faith  w^hich 
he   had  yet  being  uncircumcised."     Rom.  4:    11. 


122 

Compare  this  with  Gal.  3  :  2G-29,  where  baptism  is 
spoken  of  in  very  similar  language. 

3.  If  baptism  is  a  saving  ordinance  the  Apostle 
Paul  instead  of  thanking  God  that  he  had  baptized 
only  Crispus,  and  Gains,  and  the  household  of  Ste- 
phanas, (see  1st  Cor. :  14,  10.)  would  have  endeav- 
ored to  baptize  all  he  possibly  could.  And  farther, 
he  could  not  have  said  in  truth  as  he  does  (v.  17)  that 
''Christ  sent  him  not  to  baptize  but  to  preach  the 
gospel."  Christ  sent  him  to  endeavor  "by  all  means" 
in  his  power  to  save  men;  (1st  Cor.  9  :  19-22)  and 
hence  if  their  being  baptized  would  save  them  he 
was  under  the  most  solemn  obligations  to  adminis- 
ter the  ordinance  to  as  many  as  he  could  persuade 
to  receive  it. 

4.  Simon  Magus  was  baptized  by  Philip  on  a 
profession  of  his  faith.  Acts  8:  13.  Though  it  ap- 
pears from  what  followed,  that  he  was  not  a  sincere 
believer,  it  is  obvious  from  the  narrative  that  he  did 
not  receive  the  ordinance  in  order  to  make  him  a  be- 
liever, but  because  he  had  previously  declared  him- 
self to  be  one.  Again,  if  this  had  been  the  object, 
the  ordinance  failed  in  his  case  to  produce  the  de- 
signed effect.  Soon  after  his  baptism  Peter  told  him 
that  his  "heart  was  not  right  in  the  sight  of  God; 
yea  that  he  was  in  the  gall  of  bitterness  and  in  the 
bond  of  iniquity."  And  farther  still,  when  the  Apos- 
tle declared  him  to  be  in  that  sinful  and  perilous 
condition,  he  did  not  exhort  him  to  be  re-baptized  in 
order  to  his  obtaining  forgiveness,  as  he  would  have 
done  if  the   ordinance  were  efficacions  to  this  end; 


123 

but  to  "repent  of  his  wickedness  and  pray  to  God." 
Acts  8:  21-23. 

Concerning-  the  baptismal  regeneration  of  infants, 
the  question  is  not  whether  the  word  regenerate  has 
ever  been  employed  by  theological  writers,  in  a  gen- 
eral ecclesiastical  sense,  answering  to  the  word  bap- 
tize ;  but  whether  the  change  described  in  the  bible 
b}'  the  term  regeneration,  conveys  the  idea  of  no 
greater  change  in  the  heart  of  a  child,  than  what 
the  ordinance  of  baptism  is  capable  of  producing  ? 
than  what  it  does  in  fact  produce,  when  the  ordinance 
is  administered  by  a  duly  authorized  person?  On 
this  point  we  remark — 

1.  That  if  the  claim  set  up  consists  in  this,  viz  : 
that  saving  grace  is  conferred  through  this  ordinance 
J)y  the  official  authority  of  the  administrator,  it  is 
sufficient  to  reply  that  the  Scriptures  give  no  such 
authority  to  any  mere  man,  and  they  connect  no 
such  efficacy  with  any  rehgious  ordinance.  Christ 
had  power  on  earth  to  forgive  sins,  but  He  alone. 
But  even  He  never  employed  the  ordinance  of  bap- 
tism as  the  medium  of  communicating  forgiveness, 
much  less  did  He  impart  such  a  virtue  to  the  ordi- 
nance in  the  hands  of  any  other  person.  It  is  a 
sign  and  seal  of  remission  of  sins ;  but  we  look  in 
vain  for  any  Scripture  which  teaches  that  the  ordi- 
nance itself  conveys  this  blessing  or  that  the  admin- 
istrator conveys  it  by  his  official  authority  by  means 
of  this  ordinance  as  a  channel  of  communication. 

2.  If  the  ground  assumed  be  that  baptism  is  the 
channel  through  which  the  Holy  Spirit  communicates 

lU 


124 

saving  grace  to  the  heart  of  the  child,  we  admit  that 
this  inay  be  the  case  and  sometimes  it  doubtless  is. 
We  believe  farther  that  this  would  occur  more  fre- 
quently if  parents  in  presenting  their  children  to 
God  through  this  ordinance  exercised  stronger  faith 
in  that  covenant  of  which  baptism  is  the  seal.  But 
we  deny  that  saving  grace  is  so  connected  with  the 
ordinance  that  the  renewing  and  sanctifying  influ- 
ences of  the  Holy  Spirit  invariably  accompany 
its  administration.  The  bible  teaches  no  such  doc- 
trine and  there  are  several  considerations  which 
prove  it  to  be  false.  (1.)  We  have  seen  that  the  sa- 
ving influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  do  not  always 
accompany  the  baptism  of  adults ;  and  if  not,  by 
what  rule  will  children  form  an  exception?  (2.)  On 
this  principle  it  is  incredible  that  infant  baptism 
should  be  confined  to  the  children  of  believers.  Such 
is  the  benevolence  of  the  gospel,  that  if  the  ordi- 
nance properly  administered  is  always  saving  in  its 
efiects,  the  first  preachers  of  Christianity  would  have 
been  commissioned  to  baptize  indiscriminately  all 
the  little  children  and  infants  who  might  fall  in  their 
way.  (3.)  If  baptism  possessed  invariably  a  saving 
eflicacy,  the  result  would  be  that  all  baptized  child- 
ren will,  immediately  after  their  baptism  or  as  soon 
as  they  are  capable  of  doing  so.  exhibit  evidences  of 
being  born  again,  or  in  other  words,  of  possessing 
new  hearts.  This  result  would  follow  wherever  the 
virtue  might  be  supposed  to  lie,  whether  in  the  in- 
trinsic power  of  the  ordinance,  the  official  authority 
of  the    administrator,   or  the   agency  of  the  Holy 


125 

Spirit.  But  it  is  well  known  that  the  history  of 
the  ordinance  brings  us  to  a  different  conclusion. 
The  inference  is  that  a  theory  which  leads  to  such 
a  consequence  must  be  erroneous. 

II.  The  baptism  of  believers  a  seal  of  a  public 
profession  of  religion. 

In  introducing  converts  into  the  church  from  fam- 
ilies not  professing  religion,  baptism  was  appointed 
by  Christ  as  a  sign  of  their  being  united  to  him  by 
faith  through  the  agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  as 
a  seal  of  their  solemn  engagement  or  covenant  to 
live  to  his  glory.  The  first  of  these  is  implied  in 
the  language  of  Peter  at  the  house  of  Cornelius : 
"Can  any  man  forbid  water,  that  these  should  not 
be  baptized,  which  have  received  the  Holy  Ghost  as 
well  as  we."  Acts  10 :  47.  And  the  second,  in  the 
language  of  Paul  to  the  Galatians  :  "As  many  of 
you  as  have  been  baptized  into  Christ  have  put  on 
Christ."  Gal.  3 :  27.  Here  in  one  passage  the 
work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  ih  their  hearts  of  which  bap- 
tism is  an  emblem,  was  assigned  as  a  reason  for  ad- 
ministering the  ordinance ;  and  in  the  other  the  re- 
ception of  baptism  is  declared  to  be  a  solemn  pro- 
fession of  "putting  on  Christ;  i.  e.  of  being  known 
as  his  disciples  and  as  pledged  to  promote  the  honor 
of  his  name.  Viewed  in  this  light  baptism  is  iden- 
tical with  a  public  profession  of  religion ;  and  hence 
whatever  importance  is  attached  to  the  latter  be 
longs  to  the  former.  Though  in  itself  considered 
it  is  not  essential  to  salvation,  it  becomes  so 
whenever  its  neglect  arises  from   our  being  asha- 


126 

4 

mod  of  Christ.  "With  the  heart  man  beheveth 
unto  righteousness;  and  with  the  mouth  confession 
is  made  unto  salvation."  Rom.  10:  9,  10.  "Who- 
soever therefore  shall  confess  me  before  men,  him 
will  1  confess  also  before  my  Father  which  is  in  hea- 
ven. But  whosoever  shall  deny  me  before  men, 
him  will  I  also  deny  before  my  Father  which  is  in 
heaven."  Again,  "Whosoever  shall  be  ashamed  of 
me  and  my  word  in  this  adulterous  and  sinful  gene- 
ration, of  him  shall  the  Son  of  man  be  ashamed 
when  he  cometh  in  the  glory  of  his  Father  with  the 
holy  angels."  Mat.  10:  32,  33.  Mark  8  :  38.  Luke 
9:  20. 

But  besides  being  a  public  declaration  of  disciple- 
ship,  it  is  when  properly  understood  an  assent  to  the 
great  cardinal  doctrines  of  Christianity  ;  particularly 
the  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Trinity  into  whose  name 
the  candidate  is  baptized;  (Mat.  28:  19,)  the  vica- 
rious death  and  atonement  of  Jesus  Christ  a  belief 
in  which  baptism  alwaj^s  implies,  (Rom.  6  :  3,)  and 
regeneration  through  the  operations  of  the  Holy 
♦Spirit  on  the  heart,  creating  us  anew  in  Christ  Jesus 
unto  good  works;  which  change  is  especially  refer- 
red to  and  set  forth  in  adult  baptism.    Rom.  6 :  4-6. 

And  further— as  it  is  tantamount  to  a  solemn  cov- 
enant to  be  the  Lord's,  it  operates  as  a  powerful  i?i- 
ecntivc  to  a  holy  life.  To  all  the  motives  connected 
with  the  consideration  of  God's  love  to  us,  we  by  our 
baptism  superadd  another,  consisting  in  our  volun- 
tary, personal  consecration  to  his  worship  and  ser- 
vice.     What   a  man  freely   and  religiously   binds 


127 

himself  to  do,  ratifying  his  engagement  by  an  ordi- 
nance so  sacred  as  this,  he  will  feel  under  particular 
obligations  to  perform.  Accordingly  om'  baptism, y 
becomes  a  means  of  making  us  watchful  and  praj'er- 
ful,  and  thus  of  increasing  our  spiritual  strength  and 
promoting  our  growth  in  grace.  A  pious  German 
lady,  concerning  whom  we  read  some  years  ago, 
when  tempted  to  evil,  effectually  resisted  the  tempt- 
ation, by  responding,  "I  cannot  sin,  for  I  have  been 
baptized." 

III.  Benefits  of  infant  baptism. 

Infant  baptism  is  beneficial — 

1.  From  its  connexion  with  that  gracious  cove- 
nant which  God  entered  into  with  believing  parents 
and  their  children.  That  such  a  covenant  was  made 
we  shall  here  assume,  because  the  proof  has  been 
already  adduced.  We  shall  also  for  the  same  rea- 
son take  for  granted  that  baptism  is  the  seal  of  that 
covenant.  To  be  baptized  is  therefore  to  enter  into 
covenant  with  God.  The  adult  subject  of  baptism 
does  this  for  himself  alone.  In  infant  baptism  the 
same  is  done  in  behalf  of  the  child  by  the  parent  or 
guardian  who  acts  as  its  sponsor.  The  question  now 
is,  what  benefit  accrues  to  the  child  from  its  being 
thus  brought  into  covenant  with  God  ? — the  act  be- 
ing performed  by  another,  and  the  child  being  alto-  . 
gether  unconscious  of  the  transaction?  The  igno- 
rance of  the  child  is  the  chief  objection  implied  in 
this  interrogatory.  But  will  any  one  maintain  that 
a  child  cannot  be  spiritually  benefitted  until  it  is  old 
enough  to  act  for  itself?  and  of  course  old  enough 


128 

m 
to  act  intelligently  and  understandingly  ?  If  so,  he 
must  reject  the  doctrine  of  infant  salvation,  and  thus 
rob  the  mourning  parent  of  that  precious  solace  felt 
b}'  him  in  his  bereavement,  which  is  derived  from  a 
belief  that  his  deceased  babe  is  happy.  If  infants 
are  capable  of  being  prepared  for  heaven,  they  are 
capable  of  being  benefitted  by  those  means  which 
are  adapted  to  this  end  ;  one  of  which  is  their  pious 
dedication  to  God.  Though  they  cannot  themselves 
act  intelligently  and  understandingly,  their  parents 
can ;  and  if  they  perform  a  duty  in  behalf  of  their 
ofispring  which  God  approves  and  enjoins,  it  accords 
Avith  the  plainest  dictates  of  reason  and  common 
sense  to  conclude,  that  the  children  of  such  parents 
will  be  more  likely  to  enjoy  the  Divine  blessing  than 
they  would  be  if  no  such  act  of  parental  piety  had 
been  performed.  Once  settle  in  the  affirmative  the 
question  of  duty,  and  the  inquiry  what  good  will  it 
do,  is  out  of  place.  It  is  not  "a  vain  thing  to  serve 
God."  He  knows  what  he  has  promised  in  his  cov- 
enant as  well  as  what  he  has  required;  and  he  is 
able  and  faithful  to  fulfil  his  promises,  though  the 
persons  with  respect  to  whom  they  were  made,  may 
be  too  young  to  offer  him  their  devotion.  The  bap- 
tism of  a  child  is  a  recognition  by  the  parent  of 
God's  covenant;  it  implies  an  appreciation  of  its 
blessings ;  it  is  an  act  of  worship  and  involves  a  de- 
vout and  earnest  prayer  that  the  benefits  of  the  cov- 
enant may  be  bestowed  upon  the  child.  Admitting 
now  that  the  child  is  ignorant  of  the  transaction  ; 
that  he  is  too  young  to  know  anything  about  it;  still 


^5^  129 

if  the  transaction  itself  (as  has  been  shown)  is  an 
act  performed  in  accordance  with  Scripture  and  not 
an  unauthorized  ceremony,  and  if  the  duty  is  attend- 
ed to  with  such  views  and  feeUngs  on  the  part  of  the 
parent  as  God  approves,  it  will  seldom  fail  to  be 
beneficial  sooner  or  later.  Read  the  history  of  Sam- 
uel, and  tell  me  whether  it  was  of  no  benefit  to  him 
that  his  pious  mother  "lent"  him  to  the  Lord  in  his 
early  childhood.  See  1st  Sam.  1 :  24-28,  and  chap. 
3  :  1-10.  When  he  was  yet  a  little  child  God  called 
him  in  an  extraordinary  manner  by  his  grace,  made 
him  subsequently  a  prophet  and  a  judge  in  Israel, 
and  honored  him  with  other  distinguished  tokens  of 
his  favour.  Who  is  willing  to  say  that  these  gifts 
and  graces  would  have  been  conferred  upon  him  if 
he  had  been  born  of  an  irreligious  mother?  or  if  she 
though  religious,  had  neglected  her  duty  to  him  in 
this  respect  ?  She  with  a  pious  heart  devoted  him 
to  God  ;the  offering  was  accepted ;  and  a  rich  train 
of  blessings  quickly  followed. 

2.  Infant  baptism  is  beneficial  from  its  tendency 
to  secure  to  the  child  early  religious  instruction. 
This  is  promised  by  the  parents  either  expressly  or 
impliedly  when  the  ordinance  is  administered,  and 
hence  its  tendency.  Parents  we  admit,  can  instruct 
their  children  faithfully  in  the  doctrines  and  duties 
of  religion  without  having  previously  devoted  them 
to  God  by  baptism.  But  the  question  is  not  whether 
they  can,  but  whether  they  icill?  i.  e.  whether  they 
will  be  as  likely  to  do  it  ?  Will  they  probably  feel 
as  strongly  their  obligations  ?  and  attend  to  their 


130 

duty  as  diligently  in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other? 
If  a  parent  is  a  believer  in  this  covenant  and  regards 
himself  as  being  solemnly  pledged  by  the  act  of  ded- 
icating his  child  to  God  in  baptism,  to  "train  it  up 
in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord;"  this 
pledge,  it  is  obvious,  is  adapted  to  stimulate  him  to 
the  faithful  discharge  of  the  duties  expressed  or  im- 
plied in  it ;  and  hence  just  so  far  as  infant  baptism 
produces  this  effect,  it  is  beneficial.  The  Jews  were 
so  diligent  in  teaching  their  children  the  word  of 
God  that  Josephus  says,  "Every  one  of  our  people 
being  asked  concerning  the  laws,  rehearseth  them 
more  easily  than  his  own  name."  What  an  im- 
mense benefit  was  this  to  that  nation !  And  yet  no 
one  it  is  presumed,  will  deny  that  this  result  was  se- 
cured in  a  great  degree  by  the  relation  they  sustain- 
ed to  God  as  his  covenant  people — he  enjoining 
upon  them  and  they  virtually  promising  thus  to  train 
up  their  families.     See  Deut.  4:  10,  and  6:  6,  7. 

3.  Infant  baptism  is  beneficial  in  that  it  brings 
the  child  into  an  important  relation  to  the  church, 
and  secures  to  it  several  valuable  church  privileges. 
The  standards  of  the  Presbyterian  church  maintain 
that  "all  baptized  children  are  members  of  the 
church,  are  under  its  care,  and  subject  to  its  govern- 
ment and  discipline ;  and  when  they  have  arrived  at 
years  of  discretion,  they  are  bound  to  perform  all 
the  duties  of  church  members."  In  our  church  rec- 
ords they  are  not  placed  on  our  list  of  members  nor 
reported  as  such,  until  they  become  communicants ; 
yet  they  are  as  ixally  members  before  as  afterwards; 


RELIGIOUS    INSTRUCTION. 


12 


133 

though  not  precisely  in  the  same  sense.  To  illus- 
trate this  difference,  we  will  adduce  a  familiar  ex- 
ample. Our  little  children  are  citizens  of  the  United 
States  as  truly  as  their  parents,  and  they  derive  im- 
portant benefits  from  their  citizenship.  Yet  while 
they  are  in  their^  minority,  there  are  some  duties 
which  they  are  not  qualified  to  perform,  and  some 
privileges  which  they  are  not  entitled  to  enjoy.  So 
though  baptized  children  are  members  of  the  church, 
they  are  ecclesiastically  as  well  as  naturally,  in  a 
state  of  minority;  and  the  duties  which  they  are 
competent  to  perform  and  the  privileges  they  can 
enjoy,  are  such  only  as  belong  to  minors.  The  con- 
tinuance of  their  ecclesiastical  minority  does  not 
however  depend  on  the  same  conditions  as  their  po- 
litical. Whenever  they  possess  sufficient  knowledge 
to  "discern  the  Lord's  body,"  in  the  true  Scriptural 
sense  of  this  phrase,  (1  Cor.  11 :  29,)  whatever  may 
be  their  ages,  they  have  a  right  to  all  the  privileges 
of  church  members,  and  not  before;  and  so  far  as 
their  age  and  qualifications  in  other  respects  may 
justify,  they  are  then  expected  to  discharge  all  the 
duties  incumbent  on  members  of  the  church  in  full 
communion.  Before  this  no  less  than  afterwards, 
they  are  under  the  "care,  government  and  disci- 
pline" of  the  church,  similar  to  those  exercised  over 
children  in  their  father's  house.  As  the  instructions 
and  restraints  of  the  family  are  a  great  privilege  to 
the  child,  so  are  those  of  the  church.  In  neither  case 
are  they  always  esteemed  to  be  a  privilege.  Re- 
fractory, ungovernable  children,  are  impatient  of  pa- 


134 

rental  control.  But  in  their  riper  years  they  often 
bless  God  for  having  given  them  such  parents.  In 
like  manner,  they  sometimes  feel  restive  and  unhappy 
as  church  members,  under  the  corrective  appliances 
of  religion ;  but  when  they  come  (as  they  frequently 
do)  to  appreciate  their  value,  they  will  remember 
them  with  approbation  and  gratitude,  as  having  been 
the  means  under  God  of  checking  them  in  their 
downward  course  of  sin,  and  placing  them  in  the 
path  of  life. 

As  the  onl\^  two  sacraments  authorized  by  the 
New  Testament,  viz :  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper, 
sustain  an  intimate  relation  to  each  other,  this  may- 
be a  suitable  place  to  notice  what  that  relation  is, 
and  in  what  sense  infant  baptism  is  beneficial  as  a 
preparation  for  the  other  christian  sacrament.  Both 
of  these  sacraments  are  signs  and  seals  of  the  cov- 
enant of  grace.  Their  institution  was  designed  to 
be  on  God's  part,  a  visible  token  of  his  grace  and 
mercy  to  men  through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  and 
their  reception  by  us  is  an  outward  sign  of  our  sol- 
emn recognition  of  his  covenant  and  our  reliance 
upon  it  for  pardon  and  salvation.  They  difler  from 
each  other  in  that  baptism  is  our  formal  reception 
of  God's  covenant  and  of  that  Saviour  who  is  the 
sum  and  substance  of  it;  and  the  Lord's  supper  is 
our  grateful  recognition  and  remembrance  of  its 
blessings  and  comforts,  after  having  previously  in 
cur  baptism  assented  to  and  embraced  it.  Baptism 
is  to  be  administered  but  once,  because  it  marks  our 
induction  into  the  visible  church,  and  having  once 


135 

entered  it  we  are  to  continue  there  till  the  end  of 
life,  and  have  no  necessity  for  being  initiated  a  sec- 
ond time.  A  repetition  of  our  baptism  would  be  a 
virtual  admission  that  the  taking  of  our  oath  of  alle- 
giance to  God  once,  was  insufficient  to  bind  us  and 
needed  renewing,  or  that  his  fidelity  to  us  as  ratified 
by  the  ordinance,  might  be  called  in  question  and 
needed  additional  confirmation.  The  Lord's  supper 
is  different.  It  is  designed  as  a  memorial  of  those 
blessings  which  were  purchased  by  the  death  of 
Christ.  And  since  it  is  highly  useful  and  important 
for  us  to  keep  alive  in  our  hearts  a  grateful  remem- 
brance of  those  blessings,  the  frequent  administra- 
tion of  the  ordinance  is  adapted  to  this  end;  and 
hence  our  Savior  provided  for  its  repetition  by  his 
followers  at  no  distant  intervals  as  long  as  they 
live. 

With  regard  to  infants,  baptism  when  administer- 
ed to  them  is  just  as  truly  a  seal  of  the  covenant  of 
grace  as  it  is  to  adults.  The  principal  difference  is 
that  in  adult  baptism  the  candidate  expresses  his  as- 
sent to  the  covenant  and  his  reliance  upon  it  for  his 
own  salvation;  whereas  in  infant  baptism  this  as- 
sent is  given  not  by  the  child  itself  but  by  his  pa- 
rents in  his  behalf— they  professing  their  belief  in 
the  same  truths  as  they  would  in  their  own  baptism, 
and  promising  to  endeavor  by  God's  assistance,  to 
make  their  child  acquainted  with  them  and  to  em- 
brace them  cordially  for  himself.  Here  Ues  the  ben- 
efit of  infant  baptism  as  it  stands  related  to  the 
Lord's  supper.  The  former  from  its  being  the  ap- 
12a 


136 

pointed  visible  sign  of  church  membership,  would 
t^eem  to  give  all  baptized  persons  an  ecclesiastical 
right  to  the  latter,  irrespective  of  their  age  or  other 
qualifications.  This  however  does  not  follow  ;  be- 
cause the  inspired  record  expressly  enjoins  upon 
communicants  self  examination:  "Let  a  man  exam- 
ine himself  and  so  let  him  eat  of  that  bread  and 
drink  of  that  cup."  This  implies  that  he  has  "arri- 
ved at  the  years  of  discretion,"  and  that  he  must 
possess  certain  moral  or  rather  spiritual  qualifica- 
tions in  order  to  make  him  a  worthy  communicant; 
concerning  the  existence  of  which  in  his  own  heart 
he  is  required  to  make  diligent  search.  These  qual- 
ifications are  described  by  the  phrase  "knowledge  to 
discern  the  Lord's  body";  which  include  a  competent 
theoretical  knowledge  of  God's  method  of  saving 
^^inners  through  Jesus  Christ,  and  that  knowledge  of 
.1  higher  kind  produced  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  by  which 
the  recipient  of  the  ordinance  is  enabled  to  behold 
with  an  eye  of  faith  the  excellency  and  glory  of 
Christ  as  the  Saviour  of  sinners  and  to  choose  him 
as  the  only  portion  of  his  soul.* 

*it  has  been  atlirmed  that  the  intant  children  ot  Jewish  parents  were 
church  members  in  full  communion,  and  were  admitted  at  an  early  age 
to  the  Passover  irrespective  of  any  moral  qualifications;  and  hence  that 
on  the  principles  assumed  in  this  treatise,  baptized  children  ought  to  be 
admitted  now  in  the  same  way  to  the  Lord's  supper.  But  we  think  the 
ground  taken  above  with  regard  to  Jewish  children  catinot  be  sustained 
by  facts.  The  most  approved  commentators  agree  that  the  age  at  which 
our  Saviour  came  to  the  Passover  viz :  at  twelve  years,  which  is  said 
(Luke  2:  42)  to  have  been  "after  the  custom  of  the  feast,*'  was  the  ear- 
liest time  at  which  this  was  pertnitted  according  to  Jewish  usage;  and 
tiiat  even  then  they  were  not  admitted  without  regard  to  their  moral 
and  religious  characters.     In  proof  of  this,  we  might  adduce  the  opin- 


137 

Though  infant  baptism  does  not  with  certainty 
and  in  all  cases  secure  this  fitness  for  the  Lord's  sup- 
per, it  does  secure  in  some  good  degree,  in  addition 
to  the  prayers  and  religious  instruction  of  pious  pa- 
rents, that  "care,  government  and  discipline"  of  the 
church,  which  when  faithfully  and  kindly  carried  out, 
according  to  the  requirements  of  Christ  and  his 
Apostles,  are  eminently  adapted  to  bring  those  within 
her  inclosure,  to  seek  at  the  Saviour's  cross  that 
peace  of  conscience  which  can  be  found  no  where 
else,  and  at  the  Lord's  table  that  communion  with 
him  and  his  people  which  is  an  antepast  of  heaven. 
We  doubt  not  that  many  while  partaking  of  the 
Lord's  supper  and  feasting  by  faith  upon  the  heav- 
enly manna  of  which  it  may  be  regarded  as  in  some 
sense  an  emblem,  have  blessed  God  in  their  hearts  and 
said,  "Had  it  not  been  for  our  early  initiation  by 
baptism  into  the  school  of  Christ,  where  we  were 
taught  to  seek  his  grace  and  fear  his  name,  we 
should  not  have  been  here  to-day  enjoying  such  to- 
kens of  his  favor." 

Says  the  distinguished  commentator  Matthew 
Henry,  "I  cannot  but  take  occasion  to  express  my 

ions  of  Calvin,  Patrick,  Poole,  RosenmuUer,  Kuinoel,  and  Bloomfield. 
But  we  deem  it  sufficient  to  quote  a  passage  from  Dr.  Gill  an  eminent 
Baptist  commentator.  ''According  to  the  maxims  of  the  Jews,"  says 
he,  "persons  were  not  obliged  to  the  duties  of  the  law,  or  subject  to  the 
penalties  of  it  in  case  of  non-performance,  until  they  were,  a  female,  at 
the  age  of  twelve  years  and  one  day,  and  a  male,  at  the  age  of  thirteen 
years  and  one  day^  "They  were  not  reckoned  adult  members  till  then : 
nor  then  either,  unless  worthy  persons ;"  for  so  it  is  said,  "iJe  that  is 
v-orthy  is  called,  at  thirteen  years  of  age,  a  son  of  the  congregation  of  Is- 
rael, that  is,  a  member  of  the  church.'''' 


138 

gratitude  to  God  for  my  infant  baptism  :  not  only  as 
it  was  an  early  admission  into  the  visible  body  of 
Christ,  but  as  it  furnished  my  parents  with  a  good 
argument  and  I  trust  through  grace,  a  prevailing  ar- 
gument for  an  early  dedication  of  myself  to  God  in 
my  early  childhood.  If  God  has  ever  wrought  any 
good  work  upon  my  soul,  I  desire  with  humble  thank- 
iulncss,  to  acknowledge  the  influence  of  my  infant 
baptism  upon  it."  See  liis  Life  Vol.  1st  of  his  Com- 
mentary. 

4.  Infant  baptism  beneficial  to  parents,  to  the 
church,  and  through  her  to  mankind. 

Its  beneficial  tendency  upon  parents  may  be  seen 
from  the  fact  already  adduced — that  it  makes  them 
more  faithful  in  seeking  the  spiritual  welfare  of  their 
cliildren.  Parental  faithfulness  not  only  benefits  the 
children  but  the  parents  also.  Intercessory  prayer 
is  as  valuable  to  him  who  offers  it  as  to  those  in 
whose  behalf  it  is  offered;  and  so  of  any  other  kind 
of  scriptural  effort  for  the  salvation  of  our  house- 
holds. 

Again,  if  infant  baptism  is  a  duty,  its  performance 
is  well  pleasing  to  God,  and  cannot  fail  to  benefit 
those  who  with  proper  views  comply  with  the  Divine 
injunction.  "In  his  favor  is  life."  To  the  honor  of 
Enoch  it  is  recorded  that  "he  pleased  God" ;  and  of 
Zachariah  and  Elizabeth  that  "they  walked  in  all 
the  commandments  and  ordinances  of  the  Lord 
blameless." 

And  farther,  infant  baptism  is  beneficial  to  parents, 
by  leading  them  to  serious  reflections  concerning  their 


139 

own  spiritual  condition.  It  involves  a  renewal  of 
their  covenant  vows,  which  cannot  be  done  by  a 
pious  parent  without  profitable  reflections.  But  it  is 
particularly  beneficial  in  this  view  of  the  case  to  a 
certain  class  of  parents.  Sometimes  those  who  have 
been  baptized  in  their  infancy  and  have  families  of 
their  own,  desire  to  present  their  children  to  God  in 
baptism,  though  they  have  not  made  a  public  pro- 
fession of  religion  and  received  the  sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  supper.  A  request  of  this  kind  affords  a  fa- 
vourable opportunity  to  the  pastor,  to  instruct  such 
parents  concerning  the  nature  of  the  ordinance,  the 
solemn  vows  they  virtually  make  in  having  it  ad- 
ministered to  their  children,  and  the  qualifications 
requisite  to  enable  them  to  make  and  perform  these 
vows  in  such  a  manner  as  will  be  acceptable  to  God. 
If  thc}^  are  told  (as  they  should  be)  that  the  same 
frame  of  mind  is  requsite  for  the  proper  discharge  of 
this  duty,  as  in  coming  to  the  Lord's  table;  that  if 
they  are  unfit  for  the  one,  they  are  also  for  the  other; 
that  the  ordinance  is  not  a  mere  form,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  giving  the  child  a  christian  name,  but  an  act 
of  religious  worship,  in  which  the  parents  solemnly 
profess  their  faith  in  the  triune  God;  and  that  though 
it  is  both  their  dut}"  and  privilege  to  have  their  child- 
ren baptized,  it  is  likewise  their  duty  and  privilege  to 
come  to  the  Lord's  table ;  but  that  in  neither  case 
can  they  do  it  acceptably  without  regenerated  hearts; 
such  instructions  as  these,  given  under  circumstan- 
ces of  so  much  interest  to  the  parents,  are  adapted 
in  a  high  degree  to  produce  upon  their  minds  a  salu- 


140 

tary  impression.  They  may  be  in  a  state  of  anx- 
ious inquiry,  which  may  by  this  course,  be  ripened 
into  christian  experience.  Or  they  may  have  met 
with  a  change  of  heart,  but  are  prevented  by  vari- 
ous reasons  from  performing  many  of  the  duties  and 
enjoying  the  comforts  of  reUgion.  An  occasion  of 
this  kind  may  be  blessed  of  God  to  revive  their  gra- 
ces, dissipate  their  darkness,  and  influence  them  to 
come  with  joyful  obedience  and  present  both  their 
children  and  themselves  to  the  Lord.  Or  if  as  may 
sometimes  happen,  they  are  careless  about  their 
aouls,  will  not  a  faithful  and  affectionate  conversa- 
tion of  this  kind  be  well  calculated  to  awaken,  con- 
vict and  convert  them  ?  The  question,  what  course 
ought  to  be  pursued  with  regard  to  complying  with 
the  request  of  such  parents,  is  answered  differently 

in  the  preceding  remarks,  are  applicable  in  either 
case,  whether  the  request  be  granted  or  denied.  But 
a^  the  question  has  been  raised,  we  will  say  con- 
cerning it,  that  where  such  parents  give  evidence  of 
piety  and  consent  with  cordiality  to  the  obligations 
implied  in  the  ordinance,  they  ought,  in  our  judg- 
ment, to  be  allowed  the  privilege  of  baptism  for  their 
children,  though  they  may  not  see  their  way  clear  to 
come  to  the  Lord's  table ;  but  where  they  do  not 
give  this  evidence,  the  ordinance  should  be  postponed 
— not  refused  but  postponed — and  the  opportunity 
thus  afforded,  should  be  improved  with  promptness 
and  fidelity,  to  bring  them  to  that  state  of  mind 
which  will  render  it  proper  at  length  to  gratify  their 


141 

wishes.  If  they  continue  thoughtless,  and  appear 
to  have  no  reverence  for  God,  and  manifest  no  dis- 
position to  perform  devotional  and  other  religious 
duties,  and  especially  if  they  are  immoral  in  their 
conduct,  it  will  be  no  blessing  either  to  them  or  their 
children  to  have  the  ordinance  of  infant  baptism  ad- 
ministered. They  have  moreover  no  right  to  claim 
it ;  and  hence  they  should  be  refused,  unless  some 
pious  relative  or  friend  who  is  so  situated  as  to  be 
able  to  carry  out  what  he  promises,  will  with  the  con- 
sent of  the  parents,  become  the  child's  sponsor,  and 
engage  to  train  it  up  "in  the  nurture  and  admonition 
of  the  Lord." 

Infant  baptism  is  beneficial  to  the  church,  by  exci- 
ting in  the  minds  of  her  members  a  lively  and  prac- 
tical interest  in  the  spiritual  welfare  of  those  who 
are  thus  committed  to  her  special  care.  Let  our 
adult  church  members  feel  as  they  ought,  that  the 
hundreds  of  young  children  thus  solemnly  introdu- 
ced to  their  notice,  are  by  this  act  entrusted  to  them, 
to  be  prayed  for,  instructed  and  watched  over;  and 
it  requires  no  unusual  discernment  to  perceive  that 
a  church  composed  of  such  members,  will  possess  a 
vigorous,  active  piety;  that  she  will  abound  in  good 
works,  be  fervent  in  praj'er  and  have  additions  made 
to  her  communion  from  time  to  time,  "of  such  as 
shall  be  saved."  But  besides  its  tendency  to  this 
end  arising  from  the  faith  and  zeal  of  the  church,  it 
is  beneficial  to  her,  and  through  her  to  mankind,  from 
its  relation  to  that  covenant  which  secures  the  per- 
petuity  and    enlargement    of  Christ's   kingdom    on 


142 

earth.  Every  instance  of  infant  baptism  is  a  recog- 
nition of  that  covenant  promise,  on  the  fulfilment  of 
which  are  suspended  the  continuance  and  universal 
extension  of  the  means  of  grace.  "  What  advantage 
hath  the  Jew,  and  what  profit  is  there  of  circumcis- 
ion ?  Much  every  way ;  chiefly  because  that  unto 
them  were  committed  the  oracles  of  God."  Rom. 
3:1,2.  See  also  chap.  9:  4.  While  all  the  sur- 
rounding nations  were  enveloped  in  Pagan  darkness, 
that  people,  by  virtue  of  the  covenant  which  God 
made  with  Abraham,  of  which  circumcision  was  the 
seal,  enjoyed  for  many  hundred  years  the  means  of 
grace,  and  in  multitudes  of  instances,  grace  itself,  as 
the  fruit  of  those  means.  It  was  likewise  on  the 
ground  of  that  covenant  that  the  inspired  psalmist 
prayed  for  the  extension  of  the  church  among  the 
Gentiles.  "Have  respect  unto  the  covenant;  for  the 
dark  places  of  the  earth  are  full  of  the  habitations 
of  cruelty."  Ps.  74:  20.  The  covenant  promised 
that  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  should  be  blessed  in 
Abraham  and  his  seed;  (see  Gen.  12 :  3,  and  17  :  4,) 
and  that  prayer  of  the  psalmist  was  a  plea  for  the 
fulfilment  of  the  promise  contained  in  the  covenant. 
We  are  the  descendants  of  some  of  those  for  whom 
the  psalmist  then  prayed.  We  enjoy  our  rehgious 
privileges  by  virtue  of  that  covenant,  and  in  answer 
to  that  prayer.  We  are  now  by  adoption  the  child- 
ren of  the  covenant;  and  our  adherence  to  it,  as 
manifested  by  afiixing  its  seal  to  our  children,  and 
performing  its  requirements  in  other  respects,  must 
be  regarded  as  one  of  the  means  by  which  the  priv- 


143 

ileges  we  enjoy  are  to  be  perpetuated  through  suc- 
ceeding generations.  It  is  likewise  a  plea  for  the 
conversion  of  the  heathen,  which  we  may  now  urge 
as  appropriately  as  was  done  at  any  former  period. 
"Have  respect  to  the  covenant ;  for  the  dark  places 
of  the  earth  are  full  of  the  habitations  of  cruelty." 
The  practice  of  infant  baptism  is  a  continued  repe- 
tition of  this  prayer.  It  is  virtually  saying  to  God, 
"O  Lord,  after  we  are  dead,  let  the  church  live  and 
flourish  in  the  persons  of  our  children  and  children's 
children ;  ai\d  by  means  of  us  and  them  let  it  be  en- 
larged and  extended  so  as  to  embrace  within  its 
pale  all  the  families  of  the  earth."  True  we  could 
offer  this  prayer  at  any  time  ;  but  its  connexion  with 
the  ordinance  of  christian  baptism  gives  it  peculiar 
force.  If  such  a  prayer  is  implied  in  the  ordinance, 
there  is  also  implied  in  it  a  Divine  promise  that  the 
prayer  will  be  heard  and  answered.  In  thus  enter- 
ing into  covenant  with  believers,  God  not  only 
exacted  a  duty  from  them,  but  made  a  promise  to 
them.  Baptism  is  as  much  a  seal  of  th^ covenant 
on  his  part  as  on  theirs.  By  his  direction  they  affix 
the  seal,  and  the  solemn  contract  between  them  is 
thereby  confirmed.  They  pledge  fidelity  to  him ; 
and  he,  on  the  basis  of  the  covenant  as  originally 
made,  secures  the  perpetuity  and  enlargement  of  his 
church,  and  makes  to  them  individually  a  conditional 
promise,  that  if  they  fulfil  their  covenant  vows,  the 
church  shall  be  perpetuated  in  their  families  and  de- 
scendants.    See  Gen.  18  :  19.     In  this  view  of  the 

case,  it  is  impossible  to  estimate  the  extent  of  the 
13 


144 

benefits  resulting  from  infant  baptism.  They  are 
as  wide  as  the  world,  and  as  perpetual  as  the  course 
of  time. 

IV.  The  time  and  manner  in  which  infant  baptism 
should  be  attended  to,  and  the  duties  growing  oat  of 
it. 

As  to  the  tlme^  it  should  be  performed  without  un- 
necessary delay.  Under  the  old  testament  dispen- 
sation, circumcision  was  required  to  be  on  the  eighth 
day.  Before  that  time  the  child  was  reckoned  unclean, 
and  could  not  therefore  be  presented  to  God  in  that 
ordinance.  See  Lev.  12:  2,  3.  For  the  same  rea- 
son animals  were  not  permitted  to  be  offered  in  sa- 
crifice till  they  were  eight  days  old.  Lev.  22  :  27. 
This  circumstance  is  regarded  by  Christians  as  cere- 
monial, and  not  to  be  observed  now  in  the  baptism 
of  infants.  This  was  the  question  which  came  be- 
fore the  council  of  Carthage  in  the  time  of  Cyprian 
in  the  third  century.  See  pages  110  and  111  of  this 
volume.  An  important  principle  is  however  involv- 
ed in  that  requirement.  As  the  eighth  day  was  the 
earliest  time  in  which  it  could  be  lawfully  performed, 
so  that  day  was  definitely  fixed,  and  could  not  be 
postponed  in  ordinary  circumstances,  without  incur- 
ring guilt.  A  remarkable  instance  of  this  is  record- 
ed in  Exodus  4  :  24-26.  A  son  of  Moses  for  some 
reason  which  is  not  stated,  was  permitted  to  continue 
uncircumcised  after  the  time  prescribed  for  the  per- 
formance of  this  rite.  The  Lord  was  displeased  with 
Moses  on  account  of  this  neglect.  "And  it  came  to 
pass  by  the  way  in  the  inn,  the  Lord  met  him  and 


145 

sought  to  kill  him."  Whether  we  are  to  understand 
some  visible  appearance  of  the  Almight}?",  or  the  in- 
fliction of  some  sudden  and  violent  disease,  by 
which  Moses'  life  was  threatened,  it  is  not  necessary 
for  us  to  inquire.  The  cause  of  this  visitation  was 
well  understood  by  the  parents  of  the  child,  and  the 
rite  was  immediately  performed ;  after  which  the 
the  Lord's  chastening  hand  was  at  once  withdrawn. 
This  teaches  us  that  unnecessary  delay  is  sinful.  It 
indicates  a  reluctance  to  compl}'  with  the  divine  in- 
junction, which  cannot  be  otherwise  than  displeasing 
to  God.  Our  children  should  therefore  be  presented 
to  the  Lord  in  baptism  at  as  early  a  day  after  the 
their  birth  as  circumstances  will  permit.  A  prompt 
discharge  of  this  dut}'  shews  a  idlling  heart ;  a  just 
appreciation  of  the  ordinance  as  a  christian  privi- 
lege;  and  not  as  being  in  our  view  a  small  matter,  a 
mere  outward  ceremon}^  which  it  is  immaterial 
whether  we  attend  to  or  not.* 

*  It  has  been  inferred  by  some  from  2ncl  Chron.  31 :  14,  that  the  long- 
est time  at  which  circumcision  could  be  delayed  with  impunity  was  till 
the  child  was  three  years  old.  That  was  the  time  of  weaning  him,  and 
he  was  then  brought  to  the  house  of  the  Lord  and  liis  name  registered 
in  the  genealogy  of  tlie  family  to  which  he  belonged.  Compare  the  text 
just  referred  to  with  1  Sam.  1:  22-54.  If  the  child  had  not  been  circum- 
cised, he  lost  his  place  in  the  genealogy.  This  (as  some  understand  it) 
is  what  is  meant  by  "cutting  off  the  uncircimicised  man  child  from 
among  the  people."  See  Gen.  17  :  14.  By  this  act  he  was  excluded 
from  having  any  part  in  the  peculiar  privileges  of  an  Israelite.  He  might 
however,  as  is  generally  supposed,  be  circumcised  voluntarily  at  any 
time  afterwards,  when  old  enough  to  act  for  himself,  and  so  be  restored 
to  his  forfeitec'  privileges  ;  and  it  is  also  argued  by  some  from  Gen.  IT, 
27,  that  the  parents  might  obtain  his  restoration  by  having  him  circum- 
cised, if  not  over  thirteen  years  of  age,  but  that  if  he  was  older  than 


M6 

With  regcrd  to  the  manner,  it  should  be  attended 
to  piously,  i.e.,  with  a  praycrfuL  devout  spirit,  and  a 
lively  faith  in  God.  The  frame  of  mind  indicated  by 
these  terms,  imphes  that  the  duty  be  performed  in 
obedience  to  Divine  authority,  and  not  merely  be- 
cause it  is  the  practice  of  the  church  of  which  we 
are  members,  or  for  the  purpose  of  giving  the  child 
a  name  ;  that  it  be  engaged  in  as  an  act  of  religious 
dedication  of  the  child  to  God  and  his  service,  with 
an  earnest  petition  for  its  speedy  conversion  and  fu- 
ture usefuhiess  ;  and  that  banishing  all  distrust  of 
God's  faithfulness,  strong  confidence  be  exercised  in 
him  as  a  covenant  keeping  God,  who  according  to 
his  promise,  will  ''shew  mercy  unto  thousands  [of 
generations]  of  them  that  love  him  and  keep  his 
commandments." 

The  duties  growing  out  of  the  ordinance  relate 
both  to  parents  and  children,  and  also  to  the  Church. 
Upon  parents  it  imposes  the  duty  of  bringing  up 
their  ff^miiUes  "in  the  nuture  and  admonition  of  the 
Lord."  This  implies  daily  prayer  with  and  for 
tlieui ;  watching  over  them  and  restraining  them  from 
vice  and  temptation;  and  faithful  and  repeated  re- 
ligious instruction  ;  particularly  the  frequent  reading 
to  them  and  by  them  of  God's  holy  word.  "I  know 
him  [Abi'aham]  that  he  will  command  his  children 
and  his  household  after  him,  and  they  shall  keep  the 

tills  he  could  not  receive  the  ordinance  on  the  faith  of  }ii.-«  parents,  but 
only  by  his  own  free  choice.  This  may  serve  as  a  j^uide  to  parents  now 
as  to  the  age  above  which  it  id  unsiiiiable  to  liave  their  cliildren  bapiii:- 
e<l,  except  on  their  own  profession  oi  faith. 


13a 


FAMILY  WORSHIP. 


149 

wa}"  of  the  Lord  to  do  justice  and  judgment,  that 
the  Lord  may  bring  upon  Abraham  that  which  he 
hath  spoken  of  him."  Gen.  18:  19.  "And  these 
words  which  I  command  thee  this  day  shall  be  in 
thy  heart,  and  thou  shalt  teach  them  diligently  unto 
thy  children,  and  thou  shalt  talk  of  them  when  thou 
sittest  in  thy  house,  and  when  thou  walkest  b}^  the 
way,  and  when  thou  liest  down,  and  when  thou  risest 
up."  Deut.  6  :  6,  7.  "Correct  thy  son  and  he  shall 
give  thee  rest;  yea  he  shall  give  delight  to  thy  soul." 
Prov.  29  :  17.  "Pour  out  thy  fury". .  .  ."upon  the  fam- 
ilies that  call  not  on  thy  name."  Jer.  8:  25.  See 
also  Ex.  20:  5,  6;  Ps.  79:  1-4,6,  7;  Prov.  22:  6. 
These  several  passages  strongly  inculcate  the  duties 
of  family  devotion,  instruction,  and  restraint;  and 
they  teach  that  these  duties  must  be  performed  by 
heads  of  families  if  they  expect  their  children  and 
households  to  be  blessed.  No  more  manifestly  did 
the  Divine  favor  rest  on  the  house  of  Obededom,  on 
account  of  his  pious  care  of  the  ark,  (2  Sam.  6.  12.) 
than  it  does  in  every  age,  on  those  houseliolds  from 
whose  altars  the  incense  of  devout  worship  ascends 
up  daily  "  as  a  memorial  before  God."  No  more 
sure  were  the  beneficial  eifects  of  pious  instruction 
and  restraint  on  the  family  of  Abraham,  (Gen.  18. 
19.)  or  of  Joshua,  (Josh.  24.  15.)  than  they  are  now 
on  those  families  where  the  parents  or  others  who 
are  placed  over  them,  imitate  the  examples  of  those 
holy  men.  Eli  neglected  those  duties,  particularly 
the  latter.  "  His  sons  made  themselves  vile  and  he 
restrained  them  not;"  in  consequence  of  which  the 


150 

Lord  caused  judgments  to  be  denounced  upon  his 
house  forever.  1  Sam.  3:  13.  The  same  conse- 
quences may  be  expected  to  follow  similar  neglects 
at  the  present  day.  "  The  Lord  God  is  a  jealous 
God,  visiting  the  iniquities  of  the  fathers  upon  the 
children,  unto  the  third  and  fourth  generat  ion  of 
them  that  hate  him."  What  encouraging  motives 
are  here  presented  to  excite  christian  parents  to 
fidelity  in  the  discharge  of  parental  duties !  And 
how  fearful  are  the  evils  of  neglect ! 

The  duties  devolving  on  baptized  children  with 
reference  to  this  ordinance,  are  such  as  the  following  : 
They  ought  in  early  life  to  devote  themselves  in  a 
devout  manner  to  that  triune  God  in  whose  name 
they  have  been  baptized ;  to  endeavor  to  become 
qualified  for  and  to  seek  a  place  at  the  Lord's  table, 
to  which  privilege  their  baptism  gives  them  in  the 
sense  already  described,  an  ecclesiastical  right;  and 
to  carry  out  in  their  lives  that  practical  integrity, 
sound  morality  and  true  godliness,  which  are  enjoin- 
ed in  the  scriptures  upon  all  men,  but  are  especially 
obligatory  upon  those  who  stand  thus  related  to  the 
church. 

Mr.  Philip  Henry,  father  of  the  celebrated  com- 
mentator. Matthew  Henry,  prepared  and  taught  to 
his  children  the  following  baptismal  covenant : 

"  I  take  God  the  Father  to  be  my  chiefest  good 
and  highest  end. 

1  take  God  the  Son  to  be  my  Prince  and  Saviour. 

I  take  God  the  II0I3'  Ghost  to  be  my  sanctifierj 
teacher,  guide  and  comforter. 


151 

I  take  the  word  of  God  to  be  my  rule  in  all  my 
actions. 

And  the  people  of  God  to  be  my  people  in  all 
conditions. 

I  do  likewise  devote  and  dedicate  unto  the  Lord, 
my  whole  self,  all  I  am,  all  I  have,  and  all  I  can  do. 

And  this  I  do  deliberately,  sincerely,  freely  and 
forever." 

Each  of  his  children  w^as  required  to  repeat  this 
covenant  every  Lord's  dav,  the  father  putting  his 
amen  to  it,  and  sometimes  adding,  "  So  say,  and  so 
do,  and  you  are  made  forever." 

Let  all  baptized  children  adopt  this  covenant  as 
their  own.  Let  them  renew  it  in  a  solemn  and  de- 
vout manner  at  short  intervals.  We  can  assure  them 
that  if  they  "  so  say  and  so  do,  they  are  made  forever." 

The  church  has  likevvise  important  duties  to  per- 
form with  reference  to  this  ordinance.  The  proper 
ecclesiastical  authorities  should  see  that  the  members 
do  not  neglect  or  unneccessarily  postpone  the  ordi- 
nance; that  parents  are  faithful  in  fulfilling  their 
covenant  engagements  to  their  children,  entered  into 
at  their  baptism;  that  baptized  children  are  properly 
cared  for,  instructed  and  catechized,  encouraged  to 
attend  the  house  of  God,  Sabbath  Schools,  &c.,  and 
if  orphans,  be  provided  with  suitable  homes  where 
their  religious  education  will  be  secured.  The  "care, 
government  and  discipline  "  of  the  church,  as  exer- 
cised over  them,  should  be  parental  rather  than  ju- 
dicial ;  consisting  of  kind,  christian  counsels,  admo- 
nitions and  reproofs;  not  of  charges  officially   pre- 


152 

fered,  and  succeeded  by  the  usual  forms  of  legal 
process.  Should  such  results  as  are  desired  and 
hoped  for  not  be  realized,  a  sound  discretion  must 
be  exercised  as  to  what  farther  steps  may  in  due 
time  be  required  under  the  circumstances  of  the  case. 
But  if,  as  we  have  seen,  the  minority  of  a  child  in 
his  father's  house,  furnishes  a  suitable  illustration  of 
the  relation  of  baptized  children  to  the  church ;  the 
proper  treatment  of  a  child  by  his  father  for  neglect 
of  duty,  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  appropriate  dis- 
cipline of  the  church  in  such  an  event.  A  parent 
will  bear  long  with  an  undutiful  son,  and  endeavor 
by  assiduous  and  protracted  efforts  to  reclaim  him 
from  his  sinful  course,  before  he  proceeds  to  disown 
him ;  and  when  he  feels  constrained  to  adopt  so  se- 
vere a  measure,  his  purpose  is  carried  into  effect  not 
by  a  formal,  much  less  a  public  exclusion  from  the 
family  circle ;  but  by  a  silent  withdrawal  of  paren- 
tal favor.  AVith  a  forbearance  and  tenderness  simi- 
lar to  this,  according  to  our  opinion,  should  be  the 
treatment  of  baptized  children. 

Again,  this  class  of  church  members  ought  to  re- 
ceive the  special  attention  of  their  pastor.  When 
Moses  had  written  the  law  he  delivered  it  to  the 
priests,  the  sons  of  Levi,  and  commanded  them,  say- 
ing, "  Gather  the  people  together  on  the  year  of  re- 
lease, men  women  and  children,  and  read  the  law 
unto  them,  that  they  may  hear,  and  that  they  may 
learn,  and  fear  the  Lord,"  &c.  Deut.  31 :  9-13.  So 
it  should  be  now.  In  the  injunction  of  our  Saviour 
to  Peter,  "Feed  my  sheep,  feed  my  lambs,"  we  are 


153 

taught  that  under  the  new  testament  dispensation, 
the  spiritual  supervision  of  children,  as  well  as  others, 
is  committed  to  ministers  of  the  gospel,  as  a  part  of 
their  official  work.  In  addition  to  the  opportunities 
for  doing  them  good  which  occur  almost  daily,  and 
always  every  Sabbath,  they  may  with  great  advan- 
tage have  stated  seasons,  (say  previous  to  each  com- 
munion,) to  assemble  them  together,  and  address 
them  particularly  concerning  their  privileges,  obhga- 
tions  and  duties.  The  regular  and  faithful  catechis- 
ing of  children  depends  also  in  a  great  degree  upon 
the  importance  attached  to  it  and  the  interest  mani- 
fested in  it  by  pastors.  The  duty  of  imparting  this 
form  of  instruction  primarily  belongs  to  parents ;  and 
where  circumstances  are  such  as  to  render  it  expe- 
dient, teachers  in  Sabbath  Schools,  as  well  as  other 
schools,  may  properly  engage  in  it.  But  it  is  very 
apt  to  be  neglected  or  attended  to  irregularly,  even 
in  the  family,  unless  parents  are  occasionally  re- 
minded of  their  duty  from  the  pulpit;  and  it  affords 
them  much  encouragement  to  punctuality  and  fidel- 
ity, as  well  as  exerts  a  favorable  influence  on  the 
minds  of  the  children,  to  have  their  pastors  at  stated 
periods  and  as  often  as  practicable,  engage  person- 
ally in  the  work  of  catechizing;  so  far,  at  least,  as 
to  learn  what  proficiency  has  been  rpade,  and  to  se- 
cure among  the  people,  old  and  young,  a  lively  and 
continued  interest  in  the  exercise.  All  the  reformed 
churches  had  their  catechisms.  In  the  preface  of 
one  of  those  penned  by  Luther,*  he  says,  "  The  du- 
*Luther  wrote  two — a  larger  and  shorter. 


154 

ty  of  the  faithful  and  watchful  father  demands,  that 
once  a  week  in  the  least,  he  should  make  trial  by  exa- 
mination of  his  children  and  family,  and  discover 
what  they  understand  or  have  learnt;  solemnly  con- 
straining them,  in  case  of  ignorance,  to  learn  these 
things  thoroughly."  To  ministers  he  says,  "I  there- 
fore beseech  and  conjure  all  you,  who  are  pastors 
and  preachers,  that  you  solemnly  discharge  your 
duty,  and  take  care  of  the  people  committed  to  you 
by  God.  And  this  you  will  best  do,  by  joining  us  in 
inculcating  this  catechism  every  where,  and  espe- 
cially on  the  youngy  Calvin's  catechism  was  exten- 
eively  circulated,  both  on  the  continent  and  in  Eng- 
land and  Scotland.  In  France  it  was  publicly  ex- 
pounded by  order  of  the  national  Synod.  His  own 
estimate  of  the  importance  of  this  mode  of  instruc- 
tion is  expressed  in  the  following  most  decided  lan- 
guage: "The  church  of  God  cannot  be  without  a 
catechism;  for  therein  the  true  seed  of  doctrine  is 
to  be  contained,  from  which  at  length  the  pure  and 
seasonable  harvest  will  be  matm^d,  and  from  this 
the  seed  may  be  multiplied  abundantly."  Before 
the  close  of  that  century  a  catechism  was  penned 
with  scripture  proofs,  by  a  committee  appointed  for 
this  purpose,  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  church 
of  Scotland,  which  was  ordered  to  be  used  in  fami- 
lies and  schools ;  and  pastors  were  especially  charged 
with  the  duty  of  placing  it  in  the  hands  of  the  people, 
and  also  of  examining,  prior  to  each  communion,  as 
to  their  proficiency.  At  a  later  period,  (A.  D.  1639) 
they  were    enjoined  to  have    catechising  in  some 


155 

part  of  the  parish  every  week.  This  was  four  years 
before  the  meeting  of  that  famous  assembly  of  Di- 
vines at  Westminster,  one  of  the  fruits  of  which  was 
tlie  production  of  a  catechism,  which  for  accuracy 
and  precision,  simpUcity  and  perspicuity,  stands  un- 
rivaled among  all  similar  productions  in  any  age  of 
the  world.  Let  it  have  a  place  in  every  family  and 
be  treasured  up  in  the  memories  of  all  our  children. 
Next  to  the  study  of  the  bible,  scarcely  any  thing 
will  be  found  more  valuable. 

Once  more;  the  private  members  of  the  church 
ought  to  take  a  special  interest  in  these  lambs  of  the 
flock.  Their  baptism  was  a  particular  introduction 
to  the  friendly  and  christian  attention  of  the  Lord's 
people.  It  was  a  virtual  request  for  their  prayers 
and  counsels.  Above  all,  it  was  a  solemn  injunction 
addressed  to  each  of  the  members  of  the  church  by 
the  Lord  of  the  covenant,  in  whose  name  the  ordi- 
nance was  administered,  saying,  "  Give  ear,  O  my 
people" — hide  not  from  these  children  whom  I  here- 
by commit  to  thee,  what  you  "have  heard  and 
known" — "showing  to  the  generation  to  come  the 
praises  of  the  Lord,  and  his  strength,  and  his  won- 
derful works  that  he  hath  done" — "that  the  genera 
tions  to  come  may  know  them,  even  the  children 
which  shall  be  born;  who  shall  arise  and  declare 
them  to  their  children,  that  they  may  set  their  hope 
in  God,  and  not  forget  the  works  of  God,  but  keep  his 
commandments."  See  Ps.  78:  1-7;  and  Home's 
commentary  on  the  same.  As  is  taught  in  that  pas- 
sage, it  is  by  the  use  of  means  such  as  these,  em- 
14 


156 

ployed  not  only  by  parents,  but  also  by  the  members 
of  the  church,  with  reference  to  the  rising  genera- 
tion, and  particularly  with  those  youth  and  children 
whom  God,  by  their  baptism,  has  brought  into  so 
near  relation  to  us,  that  the  church  is  to  be  enlarged 
and  perpetuated.  The  faithful  "christian  nurture" 
of  the  present  generation,  will  secure,  as  a  general 
rule,  according  to  the  Divine  arrangement,  the  pro- 
per training  of  the  next,  and  so  on  in  successive 
ages,  till  the  arrival  of  that  happy  period  when  "  they 
shall  not  teach  every  man  his  neighbor,  and  every 
man  his  brother,  saying  know  the  Lord  :  for  all 
shall  know  him,  from  the  least  to  the  greatest." 

Christian  reader !  allow  me  to  offer  a  few  words 
of  exhortation.  Are  you  a  parent?  do  not  neglect 
the  religious  instruction  of  3'our  children.  You  ma- 
nifest an  ardent  desire  for  their  temporal  prosperity; 
why  not  for  their  eternal  ?  In  their  infancy  you 
dandle  them  on  the  knee  of  parental  fondness,  and 
watch  over  their  welfare  by  day  and  by  night;  but 
how  many  prayers  are  recorded  in  heaven  which  3'ou 
have  offered  up  in  their  behalf?  In  their  early  child- 
hood, you  teach  them  to  lisp  the  endearing  names 
of  father  and  mother,  and  notice  with  intense  inte- 
rest their  growth,  both  of  body  and  mind ;  but  how 
much  have  you  taught  them  concerning  their  Father 
in  heaven,  and  the  importance  of  giving  their  hearts 
to  him  ?  In  their  youth,  all  your  tender  anxieties 
are  called  into  action  for  their  intellectual  improve- 
ment and  theu*  elevation  in  society;  but  how  many 
earnest  longings  have  you  felt  for  theu'  improvement 


157 

in  Divine  knowledge  and  tlieir  elevation  to  God's 
right  hand?  Which  in  your  estimation  is  the  more 
important  ?  that  your  children  should  become  learn- 
ed and  honorable  in  this  world?  or  that  they  should 
become  pious?  that  they  acquire  large  estates  and 
luxuriate  in  the  abundance  and  splendor  of  w^ealth? 
or  become  heirs  of  the  kingdom  of  God  ?  If  the 
latter,  then  act  accordingly.  Feel  as  strongly,  and 
act  as  constantly  and  efficiently  for  the  promotion  of 
their  spiritual  good  as  most  parents  do  for  their  tem- 
poral w'elfare,  and  we  are  authorized  to  assure  you 
God  will  bless  and  save  them.  Adopt  the  opposite 
course,  and  though  they  may  even  then  be  converted, 
you  will  have  much  reason  to  fear  a  different  result, 
and  that  in  the  day  of  final  account  their  blood  will 
be  required  at  your  hands. 

Are  you  an  officer  or  a  private  member  of  the 
church?  or  a  minister  of  the  gospel?  Remember 
that  the  youth  and  children  of  the  present  genera- 
tion are  the  germs  of  the  future  church;  and  that 
the  character  and  even  the  existence  of  the  church 
in  time  to  come,  will  therefore  depend  upon  the  faith- 
ful and  successful  employment  of  the  means  which 
God  has  appointed  for  the  conversion  of  those  now^ 
entering  upon  the  stage  of  life.  Next  to  parents, 
you  are  responsible  to  God  for  the  part  you  take  in 
forming  their  religious  characters.  The  church  is, 
in  an  important  sense,  a  school;  baptized  children 
are  "disciples"  or  learners  in  this  school;  and  you, 
in  your  appropriate  places,  are  to  perform  the  office 
of  instructors ;  "  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things 


158 

whatsoever  Christ  has  commanded  you."  Fulfil 
your  trust  with  fidelity,  and  "  your  labor  will  not  be 
in  vain  in  the  Lord." 

Baptized  children !  Endeavor,  I  beseech  you,  to 
appreciate  and  improve  the  privilege  you  enjoy  of 
being  members  of  the  church  of  Christ.  Though 
this  relation  was  formed,  not  by  your  own  act,  but 
by  that  of  your  parents,  it  should  be  prized  no  less 
on  this  account.  You  had  no  agency  in  your  being 
born  rational  beings,  and  not  brutes  ;  yet  you  regard 
this  as  a  circumstance  demanding  your  warmest 
gratitude.  You  became  citizens  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  without  your  agency;  and  yet 
you  rejoice  in  that  good  Providence,  which  has  thus 
distinguished  you  from  millions  of  mankind,  born 
under  despotic  civil  governments,  or  what  is  far 
worse,  in  countries  unblessed  by  the  glorious  gospel. 
So  it  was  a  great  favor  to  you,  that  as  soon  as  you 
began  to  live  in  this  sinful  world — yourselves  being 
sinners — your  parents  besought,  in  your  behalf,  the 
grace  of  God  to  deliver  you  from  sin,  and  caused 
you  by  your  baptism,  to  be  encircled  as  it  were,  with 
the  bow  of  his  holy  covenant. 

Take  heed  that  you  despise  not  yowv  birth-right. 
By  this  course  Esau  lost  his  fathers  dying  benedic- 
tion; and  by  a  similar  course  many  a  3'outh  since 
has  lost  a  much  greater  blessing,  viz :  the  saving 
grace  of  God,  and  the  eveilasting  inheritance  of  his 
redeemed  people.  What  a  bitter  lamentation  did 
Esau  send  up  into  his  father's  ears,  when  he  discov- 
ered his  foil  v !  but  it  was  too   late.     "He  found  no 


159 


place  for  repentance,"  [no  disposition  in  his  father 
to  change  his  purpose,]  "though  he  sought  it  care- 
fully with  tears."     Such  will  be  your  doom  ere  long, 
if  you  "neglect  this  great  salvation."     Be  not  asham- 
ed of  your  relation  to  the  church,  nor  unmindful  of 
the  obHgations  which  are  thereby  devolved  upon  you. 
Remember  that  you  "  are  bound  to  perform  all  the 
duties   of  church  members."     To  this  end,  secure 
without  delay  the  renewal  of  your  hearts ;  which 
w^as  the  primar}^  object  desired  and  hoped  for  as  the 
result  of  your  infant  membership.     Having  by  Di- 
vine grace  obtained  this,  all  other  rehgious  and  mo- 
ral duties  which  are  required  of  you,  will  be  per- 
formed  cheerfully,  nay,  with  the  greatest  delight. 
God  will  bless  and  honor  you  on  earth,  and  receive 
you  after  death,  to  a  more  glorious  membership  in 
the  "church  of  the  first  born,  which  are  written  in 
heaven." 

14a 


ERRATA. 

Two  forms,  extending  from  the  59th  to  the  82d 
page,  passed  through  the  press  in  the  author's  ab- 
sence, in  consequence  of  which  more  typographical 
errors  appear  there  than  in  other  portions  of  the  book. 
Three  of  the  most  glaring  the  reader  will  please  cor- 
rect, viz:  Erase  the  lettej  "  S  "  in  the  word  "  days  " 
over  the  cut,  page  68,  and  the  letter  "  d  "  in  the  word 
"  intimated  "  at  the  top  of  page  79,  and  change  "  R  " 
into  "  P  "  in  the  word  "  Ret. "  towards  the  bottom  of 
page  73. 


CONTENTS 

OF  THE  SE\TERAL  PARTS; 

TOGETHER   WITH    aUESTIONS    FOR    THE    USE    OF    PARENTS    IX 

INSTRUCTING  THEIR  CHILDREN.       FOR  THE    ANSWERS, 

REFERENCE    IS    3IADE  TO  THE    PAGES  WHERE 

THEY    MAY    BE    FOUND. 

PAGE, 

PART  I.  The  Scriptural  mode  of  administering  Baptism.  7 

What  is  essential  to  the  valid  administration  of  Christian  baptism?  7 

Is  any  particular  mode  of  applying  water  essential  to  its  validity?  7 

What  are  the  two  modes  in  use  among  christians?  7 

Which  of  them  is  the  more  scriptural?  7 

1.  Baptism  of  Christ.  7 
Was  Christ's  baptism  intended  as  an  example  for  us?  8 
May  not  his  baptism  furnish  some  evidence  as  to  the  proper 

mode  of  administering  it?  8 

Wliat  mode  does  it  favor  most ;  immersion  or  sprinkling?  ,     8 

Can  you  state  the  argument  in  favor  of  sprinkling  founded  on 

Christ's  baptism?  9 

Will  you  give  more  at  length  the  scripture  proof  that  this  argu- 
ment is  sound  and  conclusive?  9-16 
First  adduce  the  proof  that  Christ's  baptism  was  a  part  of  the 
ceremony  by  which  he  was  inducted  into  his  piiestly  office  ; 
page  10,  and  note  page  57 ;  and  secondly  that  the  priests  were 
sprinkled  with  water,  as  a  part  of  their  induction  into  office.  14-'' 'i 
Do  these  facts  render  it  highly  probable   if  not  certain  that 

Christ  was  baptized  by  sprinkling?  16 

Is  the  argument  weakened  by  the  fact  of  his  going  down  into 

the  water?  16 

How  is  his  baptism  represented  in  ancient  engravings?  11 

How  early  is  the  date  of  the  oldest  engraving  of  this  kind  which 

is  known  to  be  extant?  11 

2.  Baptism  of  the  Eunuch. 

Where  is  the  eunuch's  baptism  recorded?  17 


162 


PAGE. 


What  portion  of  scripture  was  he  reading  when  Philip  entered 

liis  chariot?  1"^ 

What  is  said  as  to  the  manner  in  which  Philip  expounded  that 

prophecy  to  him?  17-18 

What  proof  is  there  that  he  said  anything  in  his  discourse 

about  baptism?  18 

What  part  of  the  prophecy  from  which  he  was  speaking  would 

furnish  a  suitable  text  for  him  to  discourse  on  this  subject?  18 

What  is  the  import  of  those  words,  "  So  shall  he  sprinkle  many 

nations? "  21 

What  do  they  prove  concerning  the  mode  in  which  Philip  bap- 
tized the  eunuch?  21-22 

3.  Other  instances  of  Baptism  recorded  in  Scripture.  22 

Where  were  the  three  thousand  who  were  converted  on  the  day 

of  Pentecost?  22 

Did  they  leave  the  house  where  they  were   assembled  in  order 

to  receive  baptism?  '       23 

Was  not  Paul  also  baptized  in  the  house?  22 

How  was  it  with  Cornelius  and  his  friends?  22 

Wliere  were  the  jailor  and  his  household  baptized?  22 

If  they  were  all  baptized  in  the  house,  is  it  at  all  probable  that 

they  were  immersed?  22 

Do  we  read  of  a  single  instance  in  which  the  converts  left  the 

place  where  they  were  converted  in  order  to  receive  baptism?  23 

What  does  this  prove  concerning  the  mode?  23 

In  baptising  Lydia  and  her  household  did  not  the  candidates  go 

to  a  river  side  in  order  to  have  the  ordinance  administered? 

or  were  they  not  there  already  previous  to  and  at  the  time  of 

L3'dia's  conversion?  23-24 

For  what  purpose  did  the  Jews  resort  to  that  place?  23-24 

What  is  the  import  of  the  phrase,  "  where  prayer  is  wont  to  be 

made? ''  24 

Does  the  circumstance  of  their  being  baptized  there  afford  any 

evidence  in  favor  of  immersion?  2-4 

4.  Evidence  derived  from  Scrijitu re  facts  and  customs.  24 

Where  were  the  Israelites  baptized  unto  Moses?  27 

What  analogy  is  there  between  that  and  chrisiian  baptism?  27 

How  does  it  appear  that  we  can  with  propriety  use  the  one  to 

illustrate  the  other?  27 

By  what  mode  were  the  Israelites  baptized  in  the  cloud  and  in 

the  sea?  27-28 


163 


PAGE. 

Are  the  Jewish  purifications  called  baptisms?  28 

Were  they  performed  by  Divine  appointment?  28 

By  what  mode  were  they  generally  performed?  29 

5.  Evidence  from  the  blood  of  Christ  and  the  influences  of  the 

Holy  Spirit.  29 

What  is  Christ's  blood  called  ?  29 
What  is  the  origin  of  this  phraseology  ?  29 
What  does  it  represent  ?  29 
Does  baptism  represent  the  same  thing  ?  29 
What  proof  does  this  furnish  in  favor  of  sprinkling  ?  29 
How  are  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  represented  in  Scrip- 
ture ?  29 
Does  the  term  pour,  which  sometimes  occurs  with  reference  to 
those  influences,  differ  materially  in  sense  from  the  word 
sprinkle  ?  Note,  29 
Are  both  words  employed  to  describe  the  influences  of  the  Ho- 
ly Spirit  ?  30 
Are  these  influences  called  baptism,  with  reference  to  the  de- 
scent of  the  Spirit  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  ?  30 
How  then  is  it  probable  that  this  ordinance  which  was  the  sym- 
bol of  those  influences,  was  administesed  at  that  time  ?  30 
What  is  the  design  of  baptism  ?  30 
Can  you  adduce  proof  of  this  from  the  Scriptures  ?                            30-33 
What,  argument  is  derived  from  this  in  favor  oi"  sprinkling  or 
pouring  ?  33 

6.  The  word  Baptize  considered.  33 

What  is  the  primary,  radical  sense  of  the  word  baptize  ?  34 

From  what  circumstance  did  it  come  to  be  used  in  the  sense  of 

dip  or  im.merse  ?  34 

May  it  be  used  with  equal  propriety  where  dipping  is  out  of  the 

question  ?  34 

What  other  way  is  there  of  ascertaining  its  meaning  besides 

the  etymology  of  the  word  ?  34 

If  it  m.eans  uniformly  to  immerse,  could  it  with  propriety  have 

been  employed  to  represent  the  Jewish  purifications?  or  to 

describe  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  ?  34,  35 

How  were  the  Jewish  purifications  generally  performed  ?  34 

Are  not  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  always  described  by 

terms  which  denote  pouring  or  sprinkling  ?  and  never  by 

those  which  signify  immersion  ?  35 


164 


PAGE. 


What  evidence  does  Christ's  baptism  afford  as  to  the  import  of 

the  word  baptize  ?  35 

Did  Christ  sanction  the  practice  of  immersion  in  religious  puri- 
fications ?  35,  36 
How  does  this  bear  on  the  meaning  of  the  word  baptize  ?  35,  36 
In  using  other  words  to  express  the  same  things  which  are  rep- 
resented by  baptism,  do  the  sacred  writers  use  those  which 
signify  immerse  ?  36 
Does  the  word  immerse  ever  occur  in  the  bible  ?                                    36 
Does  the  word  dip  ever  occur  ?                                                                36 
In  what  way  is  it  employed  where  the  word  is  found  ?  36 
Is  there  an  exception  to  this  ?                                                                  36 
In  the  case  of  Naaman,  which  is  the  only  exception,  is  it  clear 

that  he  immersed  his  whole  body  ?  36 

How  often  do  the  words  sprinkle,  pour,  drop,  distil,  shed,  &c., 
occur  in  the  bible,  in  passages  having  a  bearing  on  this  sub- 
ject ?  36, 37 
What  do  these  facts  prove  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  word  bap- 
tize ?  37 

/.  The  plirases  went  down  into  the  water,  S,-c.  37 

Do  not  learned  men  say  that  the  words  translated  into  and  out  of, 
are  consistent  with  the  idea  that  the  persons  baptized  receiv- 
ed the  ordinance  by  the  side  of  the  water  ?  37 

Allowing  the  words  all  the  force  given  them  by  the  English 
words  into  and  out  of,  is  the  evidence  for  immersion  regarded 
even  by  ihimersionists  themselves  as  amounting  to  anything 
more  than  probability  ?  33 

Can  no  good  reason  be  given  why  Philip  and  the  Eunich  went 
down  into  the  water  without  supposing  that  the  eunich  was 
immersed  ?  88 

May  not  a  sufficient  reason  be  assigned  why  Christ  went  into 
the  Jordan  except  to  be  immersed  ?  33 

Suppose  we  could  show  no  reason,  would  this  weigh  anything 
against  the  proof  already  adduced  that  Christ  and  the  eunich 
were  baptized  by  sprinkling  ?  39 

Is  the  phrase  "in  Jordan"  any  stronger  in  favor  of  immersion 
than  into  and  out  of  ?  39 

If  Christ  was  baptized  "in  Jordan,"  and  yet  was  sprinkled;  is 
it  not  probable  that  the  multitudes  whom  John  baptized  in 
Jordan,  followed  their  Saviour's  example  in  this  respect,  and 
were  sprinkled  too  ?  39 


165 


PAGE, 


Does  John's  baptizing  in  Enon  because  there  was  much  water 
there  prove  that  he  immersed  ?  39 

For  what  purpose  was  much  water  needed  unless  for  immer- 
sion ?  39 

At  the  time  John  was  baptizing  in  Enon,  where  were  Christ 
and  his  disciples  baptizing  ?  40 

Did  they  baptize  great  numbers  ?  40 

Is  there  any  proof  that  there  was  much  water  in  the  place 
where  they  baptized  ?  40 

Admitting  however  the  special  convenience  of  much  water,  and 
even  its  close  connexion  with  the  ordinance  of  baptism,  was 
there  nothing  in  the  religious  purifications  of  the  Jews,  going 
to  shew  that  a  free  use  was  probably  made  of  water  as  a 
preparation  for  the  ordinance  of  baptism  ?  40 

In  the  Jewish  purifications  and  in  their  solemn  approaches  to 

God  what  were  they  required  to  do  ?  40 

Why  was  this  previous  bathing  required  ?  and  also  the  washing 
or  changing  of  their  garments  ?  40 

Was  this  previous  bathing  a  part  of  the  religious  purification 

which  succeeded,  or  only  a  preparation  for  it  ?  40 

Was  the  sprinkling  which  followed  essential,  without  which 
the  other  passed  for  nothing  ?  40 

What  does  this  shew  concerning  the  use  of  much  water  in 
John's  baptism,  and  how  does  it  bear  on  the  subject  of  sprink- 
ling ?  41 

How  far  is  this  view  of  the  subject  confirmed  by  the  represen- 
tations of  christian  baptism  found  in  ancient  engravings  ?  41 

Wliat  clue  does  it  give,  as  to  the  manner  in  which  baptism  by 
immersion  was  probably  introduced  into  the  church  ?  42 

Does  the  phrase,  "one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism,  refer  to  the 
mode  of  administering  baptism  ?  42 

Suppose  reference  be  had  to  the  mode,  would  it  prove  that  im- 
mersion is  the  only  proper  mode  ?  or  would  it  not  rather  prove 
that  sprinkling  is  ?  42 

What  is  the  true  meaning  of  the  passage  ?  43 

In  the  phrase  "  having  our  bodies  washed  with  pure  water,  " 
does  the  word  vashed^  decide  any  thing  as  to  the  mode  ?  43 

Is  it  as  consistent  with  sprinkling  or  pouring,  as  immersion  ?  43 

Wliat  light  is  thrown  upon  its  meaning  in  this  place  by  the  pre- 
ceding clause,  "having  our  hearts  sprinkled  from  an  evil  con- 
science ?  43 


166 


PAGE. 


How  will  you  explain  the  word  bodies  consistently  with  the  idea 

of  sprinkling  ?  44 

Can  you  give  an  example  in  scripture  where  the  body  is  said  to 

be  annointed  though  this  had  been  done  to  the  head  only  ?  44 

Why  is  the  head  by  a  figure  of  speech  spoken  of  as  the  body  ?  44 

What  does  this  show  as  to  the  proper  place  oi  applying  the  wa- 
ter in  baptism  ?  44 

Suppose  the  term  bodies  be  taken  in  the  widest  sense,  may  not 
water  poured  on  the  head  be  said  in  strict  propriety  of  speech 
to  wash  the  body,  by  its  flowing  down  upon  it  ?  especially 
when  a  religious  and  not  a  physical  washing  is  intended  ?  44 

Give  an  example  in  Scripture  analogous  to  this.  44 

8.  A  consideration  of  the  phrase  ''^buried  with  him  by  baptism.''''  45 

Does  this  shew  that  Christ  was  immersed  ?  45 

Is  Christ's  baptism  referred  to  at  all  in  these  words  ?  45 

Is  the  imagery  here  employed  derived  from  the  Jordan,  or  from 
Christ's  cross  and  sepulchre  ?  45 

Are  Christ's  sufferings  at  the  close  of  his  life  sometimes  called 

a  baptism  ?  45 

May  not  the  words  furnish  some  evidence  as  to  the  design  of 
baptism  ?  and  so  prove  immersion  by  the  analogy  of  the  case  ?  46 

If  baptism  was  designed  to  represent  Chrifs  burial  and  resur- 
rection, what  propriety  was  there  of  their  practicing  the  rite, 
as  was  done,  for  several  years,  before  the  events  typified  by  it 
had  taken  place  ?  or  of  continuing  the  type  as  a  standing  or- 
dinance in  the  Church,  after  the  occurrence  of  those  events  ?  46 

If  it  was  a  mere  memorial  of  those  events,  how  does  it  difTer 
from  the  Lord's  Supper  which  was  instituted  for  this  express 
purpose  ?  46 

Does  this  phrase  prove  that  the  Roman  and  Colossian  christians 
were  baptized  by  immersion  ?  and  if  it  does,  will  it  shew  that 
this  was  the  only  primitive  mode  ?  49 

Is  it  not  probable  that  no  particular  mode  of  baptism  is  referred 
to,  but  only  its  nature  and  import  ?  49 

How  can  this  be  made  to  appear  ?  49,  50 

What  resemblance  has  any  mode  of  baptism  to  Christ's  agony 

and  death  ?  50 

Does  any  mode  of  baptism  resemble  in  a  good  degree  the  an- 
cient mode  of  burial  among  the  Jews  ?  50 

What  other  terms  are  employed  going  to  prove  that  no  refer- 
ence is  had  to  the  mode  ?  50 


167 


PAGE. 


Suppose  the  nature  of  the  obligations  of  baptism  be  referred  to 
and  not  the  mode,  are  the  allusions  to  Clirists  biuial  and  re- 
surrection appropriate  and  forcible?  53-54 

What  is  necessary  to  be  proved  by  our  Baptist  brethren  before 
they  can  justify  the  exclusive  ground  they  have  assumed?  54 

What  amount  of  proof  is  sufficient  to  sustain  the  ground  of  those 
who  prefer  and  practice  sprinkling  as  being  a  more  scriptural 
mode?  54-55 

Suppose  it  were  necessary  to  assume  the  position  that  only  one 
mode  is  valid  ;  for  which  mode  have  we  the  more  proof  from 
scripture,  sprinkling  or  immersion?  56 

How  ought  we  to  feel  and  act  towards  those  who  differ  from  us 
on  this  subject?  56 

PART  11.  Infant  Baptism.  59 

Is  it  necessary  in  order  to  f  rove  this  doctrine  conclusively  that 
it  should  be  enjoined  by  an  express  positive  precept?  59 

Is  not  a  duty  as  binding  if  taught  by  necessary  inference  as  by 
positive  law?  59 

By  which  of  these  modes  do  we  ascertain  the  Divine  will  with 
respect  to  the  observance  of  the  first  day  of  the  week  as  the 
christian  Sabbath?  59 

Is  not  this  kind  of  evidence,  as  it  relates  to  the  Sabbath,  regard- 
ed as  satisfactory  by  christians  in  general?  59 

Is  the  proof  for  infant  baptis-m  positive  or  inferential?  59-60 

What  is  the  foundation  principle  on  which  the  doctrine  of  in- 
fant baptism  rests?    Ans.  Infant  church-membership.  60 

Have  we  not  positive  precept  for  infant  church  membership?  60 

Does  not  infant  baptism  clearly  follow  from  this?  60 

1.  Infant  Baptism  proved  from  the  identity  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testaineut  Churchy  and  the  Membership  of  Infants  ifi 
the  former.  CI 

How  do  the  scriptures  uniformly  speak  of  the  church?  in  the 
singular  number  or  plural?  Gl 

Do  they  not  use  this  language  when  speaking  of  the  church  in 
different  ages  of  the  world?  and  in  such  a  manner  as  to  con- 
vey the  idea  that  they  are  always  speaking  of  the  same  body?  Gl 

At  what  time  was  the  church  commenced?    Note.  62 

When  did  it  assume  a  form  which  in  one  peculiar  feature  relat- 
ing to  households,  God  designed  should  be  perpetual?  61-62 

Who  were  embraced  in  the  covenant  which  God  made  with 
Abraham?  62 

15 


168 


PAGE. 


Was  that  covenant  the  same  kind  of  bond  as  that  which  unites 

together  the  christian  church?  G2 

How  do  you  prove  that  the  Abrahamic  covenant  was  a  bond  of 

ecclesiastical  and  not  of  political  or  civil  union?  62 

ilow  many  years  had  the  covenant  been  made  when  the  descen- 
dants of  Abraham  became  a  nation?  62 
Did  not  the  covenant  require  of  adults  who  entered  into  it  the 
same  profession  of  faith  as  is  required  of  an  adult  now  when 
he  unites  with  the  christian  church?                                                       65 
Was  not  the  promise  contained  in  that  covenant  substantially 

the  same  as  that  which  is  found  in  the  new  testament?  65 

Was  the  Abrahamic  covenant  done  away  by  the  national  cove- 
nant made  at  Sinai?  65-66 
How  did  the  latter  differ  from  the  former?  66 
How  did  the  introduction  of  the  gospel  dispensation  afiect  the 
covenant  made  with  Abraham?    A71S.  It  was  a  fulfilment 
and  confirmation  of  it.                                                                     66-69 
Did  not  the  covenant  have  respect  toChriot?    Ans.  It  was  con- 
firmed in  Christ — it  was  the  gospel  of  Christ  preached  to 
Abraham—and  by  faith  in  its  promise  he  saw  Christ's  day 
and  was  glad.                                                                                            69 
When  Christ  expelled  the  Jews  as  a  people  from  the  church,  did 
he  tell  them   that  he   would  form   another  and  a  different 
church,  to  be  composed  of  believing  Gentiles?  or  did  he   not 
say  that  the  sairie  kingdom,  the  privileges  of  which  they  then 
enjoyed,  should  be  given  to  the  Gentiles?                                          69-70 
Under  what  figure  does  Paul  speak  of  the  church  in  the  11th 

chapter  of  Romans?  70 

Who  were  represented  by  the  natural  branches?  70 

Who  by  those  wild  by  nature?  70 

Were  all  of  the  natural  branches  broken  off',  or  only  some  of 

them?  70 

What  continued  to  be  the  standing  of  those  branches,  i.  e.  those 
believing  Jews,  who  were  not  broken  off?  Did  they  not  re- 
tain their  place  in  the  same  church  of  which  they  were  mem- 
bers before  Christ's  advent?  70 
When  the  Jews  who  are  now  unbelievers  shall  be  converted  to 
Christ,  will  they  not  be  graffed  into  the  same  olive  tree  with 
the  believing  Jews  who  had  not  been  broken  off?  70 
When  the  Jews  who  are  now  unbelievers  shall  be  converted  to 
Christ,  will  they  not  be  graffed  into  the  same  olive  tree  from 


1G9 


PAGE. 

which  they  were  formerly  broken  ofi7  70 

What  do  all  these  facts  prove  concerning  the  old  and  new  tes- 
tament church?  70-71 
How  does  the  identity  of  the  church  under  the  old  and  new  tes- 
tament dispensation  prove  the  doctrine  of  infant  baptism?  71 

2.  Infant  Baptism  proved  from  ChrisVs  treatment  of  little 
children.  71 

Is  it  certain  that  those  children  who  were  brought  to  Christ 
were  very  young?  71-72 

What  are  the  words  which  teach  the  right  of  such  children  to 
receive  baptism?  72 

What  is  meant  by  the  words  kingdom  of  heaven  and  kingdom 
of  God,  as  here  used?  72 

What  proof  can  you  adduce  that  Christ  meant  by  this  phrase 
the  visible  church  under  the  gospel  dispensation?  Three  ar- 
guments are  given — let  them  be  all  noticed.  73-7-t 

Did  not  Christ  say  then,  in  effect,  that  little  children  would  be 
members  of  the  christian  church?  and  if  members  have  they 
not  a  right  to  receive  baptism?  74 

Was  not  Christ's  blessing  them  a  farther  recognition  of  their 
church  membership?  and  consequently  of  their  right  to  chris- 
tian baptism?  74-75 

Suppose  the  words  "of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven "  be  re- 
garded as  referring  to  the  kingdom  of  glory ;  do  they  not  still 
furnish  a  good  argument  in  favor  of  infant  baptism?  7G 

3.  Infant  Baptism  proved  from  our  Saviour'' s  last  commission 
and  the  teaching  and  practice  of  the  Apostles  in  acting  un- 
der it.  79 

Does  the  last  commission  of  Christ  to  his  Apostles  say  anything 

about  infants?  or  does  it  not  refer  to  adults  only?  79 

Can  the  words  of  the  commission  when  taken  by  themselves 
be  properly  adduced  either  for  or  against  infant  baptism?  79-80 

Does  it  follow  because  adults  are  required  to  believe  previous  to 
their  baptism,  that  this  is  also  required  of  infants  before  they 
are  entitled  to  this  ordinance?  79 

Does  the  circumstance  that  Christ  omitted  to  mention  infants 
in  the  commission  prove  anything  against  their  baptism?  80 

Can  any  good  reason  be  assigned  for  Christ's  omitting  to  men- 
tion them  except  one  which  decidedly  favors  infant  bap- 
tism? SO 

Was  it  necessary  to  mention  infants  in  that  commission  in  or- 


170 


PAGE, 

dcr  to  authorize  their  baptism?  80 

Can  you  give  any  reasons  for  believing  that  tlie  Apostles  would 
understand  Christ's  omitting  to  mention  infants  as  a  virtual 
command  to  baptize  them?  Three  reasons  are  given  for 
this — let  none  of  them  be  overlooked.  80-81 

Is  it  not  fair  to  conclude  that  if  Christ  had  designed  io  exclude 
infants  from  baptism  he  would  have  expressly  excepted  them 
in  that  commission?  82 

When  Peter,  acting  um'cr  that  commission,  exhorted  the  peo- 
ple on  the  day  of  Pentecost  to  repent  and  be  baptized,  what 
reason  did  he  urge?  S2 

Did  not  the  promise  quoted  from  the  prophet  Joel  have  a  further 
reference  to  the  promise  contained  in  the  Abrahamic  cove- 
nant?   If  so,  how  is  it  proved?  82-83 

What  if  meant  by  the  word  children^  as  here  used?  83-84 

If  Peter  meant  the  same  by  children  as  was  meant  by  the  word 
seed  in  the  Abrahamic  covenant,  would  not  the  people  under- 
stand him  to  teach  that  under  the  gospel  dispensation  their 
church  privileges  would  not  be  abridged?  but  would  be  the 
same  with  respect  to  their  families  as  they  were  under  the  old 
testament  dispensation?  i.  e.  that  upon  their  believing  in 
Christ  their  children  as  well  as  themselves  would  be  entitled 
to  baptism?  84 

Do  not  the  words  "afar  off,"  immediately  following,  corrobo- 
rate this  view  of  the  subject?  if  so,  can  you  explain  how?  84-85 

\\  hen  Paul  wrote  to  the  Corinthian  church  concerning  the  pro- 
priety of  a  husband  and  wife's  continuing  to  live  together, 
one  of  them  being  a  christian  and  the  other  a  heathen,  what 
reason  did  he  give  why  they  should  do  it?  85-86 

What  did  he  mean  by  the  terms  unclean  and  hohj,  as  applied  to 

their  children?  86 

Can  you  adduce  scripture  proofs  to  show  that  this  is  the  sense 
of  the  words?  87 

If  the  word  unclean  means  some  thing  which  could  not  be  de- 
voted to  God,  and  the  word  holy^  that  which  might  be  devot- 
ed, how  docs  this  show  that  Paul  intended  to  teach  from  it  the 
privilege  of  christian  parents  to  present  their  children  to  God 
iu  baptism?  87 

Was  not  baptism  designed  in  part  as  a  symbol  of  dedication  to 
God?  87 


171 


PAGE. 


What  different  interpretation  has  been  given  by  some  to  these 
words?  87 

Can  you  show  this  to  be  incorrect?  87-88 

In  carrying  into  practice  our  Saviour's  last  commission  to  bap- 
tize, how  did  Paul  proceed  in  the  case  of  Lydia?  88 

Who  was  Lydia?  a  native  Jewess  or  a  proselyte?  88 

In  introducing  proselytes  into  the  Jewish  church  were  not  chil- 
dren baptized  on  the  faith  of  their  parents?  88 

Suppose  the  record  of  the  baptism  of  Lydia  and  her  household 
had  been  designed  to  narrate  their  reception  as  proselytes  into 
the  Jewish  church,  could  there  be  any  doubt  of  the  baptism 
of  the  children  or  domestics  upon  her  faith?  91 

Does  not  the  word  me,  in  the  words  addressed  by  Lydia  to  Paul, 
show  that  she  alone  believed,  and  that  her  household  were 
baptized,  not  on  their  own  faith,  but  hers?  91 

What  is  the  record  of  the  Apostle's  proceeding  in  the  baptism  of 

the  jailor  and  his  household?  91 

Were  not  some,  if  not  all,  of  the  members  of  his  family  old 
enough  to  receive  religious  instruction?  92 

Does  this  prove  that  they  were  baptized  on  their  own  profession 
of  faith?  or  is  it  not  sufficiently  evident  from  the  circumstan- 
ces that  they  received  baptism  on  the  faith  of  the  jailor?  92 

What  are  the  circumstances  which  go  to  establish  this?    There 

are  two,  let  them  be  particularly  noticed.  92-95 

Does  it  weaken  the  evidence  in  favor  of  household  baptism  that 
the  examples  of  it  recorded  in  scripture  are  so  few?  95-9G 

Are  the  cases  on  record  opposed  bj'^  any  principles  or  facts  of  an 
opposite  character?  S'6 

Do  not  these  examples  illustrate  the  principles  which  have 
been  established.^  and  are  tliey  not  corroborated  by  other  his- 
torical facts  alluded  to  in  the  bible  and  in  ecclesiastical  his- 
tory? 96 
4,  Infant  Baptism  proved  from  the  history  of  proselyte  baptism 
among  the  Jews,  and'ilie  early  history  of  baptism  in  thechristiaii 
church.  ^& 

Was  baptism  practiced  before  the   christian   era?  if  so,  at  how 
early  a  period?     This  question  is  answered  in  several  partic- 
ulars, which  see.  96-98 
Was  infant  baptism  practiced  prior  to  Christ's  advent?  if  so, 
under  what  circumstances?    For  an  answer  to  this  see  No.  7 
of  the  particulars  just  referred  to.                                                   9S-101 
15a 


172 


PAGE. 

What  is  the  argument  from  this  in  favor  of  infant  baptism  now? 
This  is  answered  in  three  particulars,  to  all  which  we  invite 
special  attention.  101-103 

In  the  case  of  proselyte  baptism,  was  circumcision  practiced 
also  at  the  same  time  in  connexion  with  it?  103 

Was  not  circumcision  laid  aside  by  Gentile  believers  after  the 
coming  of  Christ  and  baptism  alone  continued  without  the 
former?  if  so,  why?  103-104 

Did  not  the  believino;  Jews  after  they  embraced  Chrtst  continue 
to  practice  infant  circumcision  for  some  time  under  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  Apostles?  if  so,  why  was  this  permitted?  101-10.5 

What  do  these  facts  prove  with  regard  to  the  practice  of  infant 
baptism  in  the  Gentile  churches;  and  also  with  regard  to  the 
doctrine  of  infant  membership  in  the  churches  composed  of 
Jews?  106 

In  the  controversy  between  Jewish  and  Gentile  believers  about 
circumcision,  did  the  question  in  dispute  relate  to  the  church 
membership  of  children,  or  only  to  the  disuse  of  that  particu- 
lar rite?  li>G 

If  the  Gentile  churches  had  not  maintained  the  doctrine  of  in- 
fant membership  by  baptizing  their  children,  would  not  their 
Jewish  brethren  most  certainly  have  called  them  to  account?    lOG-107 

From  the  record  found  in  the  Acts  of  the  Aposdes  does  there 
not  appear  to  have  existed  perfect  harmony  of  sentiment  be- 
tween the  Jewish  and  Gentile  churches  on  this  point?  108-109 

How  can  you  account  for  Jewish  believers  gradually  laying 
aside  circumcision  and  practicing  baptism  except  on  the  sup- 
position that  they  came  at  length  to  see  that  baptism  took, 
the  place  of  circumcision,  and  was  to  be  administered  as  the 
other  had  been  ;  i.  e.  to  children  as  well  as  adults?  It  cannot 
be  accounted  for  in  any  other  way.  lOS-109 

After  the  death  of  the  Apostles,  do  we  learn  from  ecclesiasti- 
cal history  that  infant  baptism  was  practiced?  and  that  those 
who  practiced  it  regarded  themselves  as  acting  in  accordance 
with  Apostolic  example?  lOf-lll 

What  testnnonies  are  recorded  in  favor  of  it  by  eminent  chris- 
tian fathers  during  the  first  three  centuries?  109-110 

Have  we  any  proof  that  a  single  individual  of  any  note  opposed 

it  during  that  period?  if  so,  on  what  ground?  110 

Can   you   now  recapitulate  in  a  brief  manner  the   arguments 

which  have  been  adduced  in  favor  of  infant  bajitism?  111-113 

In  order  to  invalidate  these  arguments,  is  it  sufficient  to  quote 


173 


PAGE. 


those    texts  of  scripture    which  relate  to  believer's    bap- 
tism? 113 

Do  not  pedo-baptists,  i.  e.  those  who  baptize   children,  hold  to 

believer's  baptism  as  well  as  their  baptist  brethren?  113-111 

What  must  be  proved  by  those  who  are  opposed  to  infant  bap- 
tism before  tliey  can  overthrow  it?  111-115 

Ought  we  not  to  treat  with  respect  and  kindness  those  v/ho  dif- 
fer from  us  on  this  subject?  116 

Should  our  christian  charity  be  manifested  by  attaching  small 
importance  to  this  doctrine?  or  acting  as  though  it  were  a 
matter  of  indifference?  if  not,  how?  316 

PART  III.  Importance  of  Christian  Baptism  liy 

What  are  the  principal  points  which  it  is  proposed  to  discuss  in 
this  part?  319 

1.  Baptism  not  a  saving  ordinance.  119 
What  passages  of  scripture   are  chiefly  relied  upon  as  proof- 
texts  by  those  who  hold  that  baptism  when  rightly   adminis- 
tered always  conveys  grace  to  the  person  baptized?  119 

Do  those  texts  prove  this  doctrine?  120-131 

What  is  the  true  exposition  of  those  passages?  120-121 

By  what  considerations  can  you  disprove  the  doctrine  that  wa- 
ter baptism  is  always  saving?  The  four  arguments  first  given 
aie  designed  to  refute  the  doctrine  with  regard  to  adults.  Let 
these  arguments  be  duly  considered.  121-122 

What  is  the  real  question  at  issue  when  we  speak  of  the  bap- 
tismal regeneration  oi  infants?  123 

Do  the  scriptures  any  where  give  authority  to  anymore  man  to 
impart  grace  to  an  infant  by  virtue  oi  his  office  as  a  minister 
of  the  Gospel?  123 

Do  they  teach  that  the  saving  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  are 
invariably  communicated  through  this  ordinance?  123-12i 

May  not  this  sometimes  occur?  and  would  it  not  occur  more 
frequently  if  parents  in  presenting  their  children  to  God  exer- 
cised stronger  faith?  124 

What  reasons  can  you   assign  why  it  does  not  occur  always? 

Three  reasons  are  given,  to  all  of  which  we  invite  attention.  124 

2.  The  baptism  of  believers   a  seal  of  a  public  profession  of 
religion.  123 

What  evidence  can  you  give  from  the  scriptures  that  adult  bap- 
tism involves  in  it  a  public  prufession  of  faith  in  Chiist?  125 
Is  it  a  duty  tor  believers  to  make  a  public  profession  of  religion?           125 
Suppose  a  person  refuses  to  perform   this  duty   through  shame 


174 


PAGE. 


to  acknowledge  Christ  before  men ;  can  he  reasonably  expect 

to  reach  heaven?  125-12G 

Suppose  then  he  refuses  to  be  baptized  for  the  same  reason ;  in 
what  light  docs  this  view  of  the  case  present  the  importance 
of  baptism  as  connected  with  our  salvation?  125-126 

Does  baptism  imply  an  assent  to  the  cardinal  doctrines  of  the 
bible?  126 

What  doctrines  in  particular  do  we  express  our  belief  in  when 
we  receive  christian  baptism?  126 

Ho.v  does  baptism  operate  as  an  incentive  to  a  holy  life?  126-127 

3.  Benefits  of  Infant  Baptism.  127 

How  does  baptism  benefit  a  little  child  who,  it  may  be,  is  so 
young  when  it  is  administered  that  he  is  unconscious  of  the 
transaction?  Three  answers  are  given,  which  we  commend 
to  the  candid  and  serious  consideration  of  the  reader.  127-130 

If  the  ignorance  of  the  child  prevents  his  receiving  benefit  from 
the  transaction,  will  it  not  follow  that  infants  cannot  be 
saved?  12S 

If  infants  are  capable  of  being  saved,  are  they  not  capable  of 

deriving  benefit  from  the  means  of  salvation?  123 

Is  not  one  of  these  means  their  solemn  dedication  to  God  by 

pious  parents?  123 

Though  infants  cannot  act  intelligently  and  understandingly, 
cannot  their  parents  act  thus?  123 

If  infant  baptism  is  an  ordinance  of  God,  is  it  not  pleasing  to 

him  when  parents  attend  to  it?  128 

Is  it  ever  a  useless  or  vain  thing  for  us  to  serve  God?  123 

Will  not  God  be  more  likely  to  bless  those  children  whose  pa- 
rents devoutly  and  prayerfully  recognize  his  holy  covenant  in 
such  a  way  as  pleases  him,  than  he  will  if  their  parents  ma- 
nifest a  different  spirit  and  pursue  a  different  course?  128 

Did  not  Samuel  receive  benefit  from  his  early  dedication  to 
God?  129 

Will  you  give  some  account  of  Samuel's  character  and  life?  129 

After  the  child  becomes  old  enough  to  be  instructed,  does  not  the 
promise  made  by  his  parents  at  his  baptism,  operate  as  a 
strong  motive  to  make  them  faithful  in  instructing  him?  129 

Did  not  the  covenant  relation  of  the  Jews  to  God  influence 
them  to  diligence  in  teaching  their  children  the  holy  scrip- 
tures? 130 

Is  it  not  beneficial  to  children  to  be  brought  into  a  close  and 
tender  relation  to  the  church?  130 


PAGE. 

What  is  the  relation  which  baptized  children  sustains  to  the 
church?  130 

Are  they  members  of  the  church  in  the  same  sense  as  they 
will  be  when  they  become  pious  and  take  upon  themselves 
those  covenant  vows  made  by  their  parents  in  their  behalf?      130-133 

How  can  you  illustrate  this  difference?  133 

Of  what  benefit  is  this  kind  of  membership  to  them?  133-13-i 

What  is  the  connection  between  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per? 134 

Of  what  are  both  of  them  the  signs  or  seals?  ■  134 

How  do  they  differ  from  each  other?  134 

Is  it  proper  to  administer  baptism  more  than  once?  if  not, 
why?  134 

Why  is  it  otherwise  with  the  Lord's  Supper?  135 

Is  baptism  a  seal  of  the  covenant  of  grace  to  infants  as  well  as 

adults?  133 

What  is  the  difference  in  this  respect  between  infant  and  adult 
baptism?  135 

Wherein  lies  the  benefit  of  infant  baptism  as  it  stands  related 
to  the  Lord's  Supper?  135-136 

Is  it  not  the  duty  of  baptized  children  to  come  to  the  Lord's 

table?  136 

Does  it  follow  from  this  that  children  have  a  right  to  the  Lord's 
Supper  merely  because  they  have  been  baptized,  without  re- 
gard to  other  qualifications?  136 

Did  the  Jews  admit  children  to  the  Passover  without  regard  to 
their  character?  Note.  136-137 

V/hat  qualifications  are  requisite  to  a  worthy  partaking  of  the 
Lord's  Supper?  136 

Ought  not  these  qualifications  to  be  diligently  sought  by  bap- 
tized children?  136 

Does  infant  baptism  in  all  cases  secure  such  a  fitness  as  is  re- 
quired for  the  worthy  partaking  of  the  Lord's  Supper?  if  not, 
what  is  its  tendency  to  produce  this  result?  137 

What  is  the  testimony  of  the  distinguished  commentator,  Mat- 
thew Henry,  as  to  the  beneficial  efiect  of  his  infant  baptism 
on  himself?  137-133 

In  what  respects  has  infant  baptism  a  beneficial  efiect  on  pa- 
rents? This  is  answered  in  two  particulars,  the  latter  of  which 
is  somewhat  enlarged  upon.  We  bespeak  for  them  the  care- 
ful and  serious  attention  of  parents.  138-141 

How  does  infant  baptism  benefit  the  church?  141 


176 


i 


PAGE. 

Does  infant  baptism  benefit  mankind  at  large?  if  so,  in  what 
way?  112-113 

4.  The  time  and  manner  in  which   Infant  Baptism  should  he 
atteiided  to^  and  the  Duties  growing  out  of  it.  144 

At  how  early  an  age  was  circumcision  to  be  performed  amon^ 
the  Jews?  144 

Why  no  earlier  than  this?  144 

Could  it  be  delayed  beyond  that  time  in  ordinary  circumstances 
without  sin?  144 

How  did  God  punish  Moses  for  his  neglect  in  this  matter?  144-145 

What  was  the  punishment  threatened  in  the  Abrahamic  cove- 
nant for  omitting  circumcision?  ISote.  145 

What  is  supposed  to  be  meant  by  the  phrase  cut  off'  from  among 

the  people?    Note.  145 

At  what  age   was  this  done  if  circumcision  was  delayed  till 

that  time?    Note.  145 

Might  the  expelled  person  be  restored  again?    Note.  145 

Could  a  child  be  circumcised  on  his  parent's  faith  after  a  cer- 
tain age?  if  not,  how  old  might  the  child  be?    Note.  141) 

May  not  this  be  a  suitable  rule  for  parents  now  in  case  of  bap- 
tism?   Note.  Ii6 

What  principle  is  involved  in  the  requirement  to  circumcise 
Jewish  children  on  the  eighth  day?  144 

Is  not  prompt  obedience  to  God  in  discharging  this  duty  more 
acceptable  to  him  than  an  obedience  which  is  tardy  and  re- 
luctant? 145 

Does  not  needless  delay  indicate  a  lack  of  appreciating  the  or- 
dinance as  a  privilege?  145 

In  what  manner  should  the  ordinance  be  attended  to?  14(i 

What  duties  are  imposed  by  this  ordinance  upon  parents?  140-141) 

Can  you  give  some  examples  of  parental  fidelity,  and  their  be- 
neficial effect  on  their  families?  149 

What  did  God  pronounce  upon  Eli  for  his  neglect  of  duty  to- 
wards his  sons?  149-150 

What  are  some  of  the  duties  devolving  on  baptized  children 
with  reference  to  this  ordinance?  150 

Can  you  repeat  the  covenant  prepared  by  I\Ir.  Philip  Henry,  fa- 
ther of  the  commentator,  for  the  use  of  his  children?  150-151 

What  did  he  tell  them  woidd  be  the  benefit  of  this  covenant  to 
them  if  they  would  adopt  it  as  their  own?  151 

Will  not  the  same  course  be  as  likely  to  benefit  children  now 


177 


PAGE. 

as  it  was  then?  151 

What  duties  are  incumbent  upon  the  officers  of  the  church 
towards  baptized  children?  151 

What  kind  of  "  care,  government  and  discipline  "  should  they 
exercise  over  this  class  of  members,  judicial  or  only  paren- 
tal? 151-152 

Are  pastors  especially  charged  with  the  care  of  baptized  chil- 
dren? 152 

In  what  particular  ways  should  he  seek  to  promote  their  spirit- 
ual good?  153 

Does  the  catechising  of  children  belong  primarily  to  parents  or 
to  pastors?  153 

May  not  pastors  render  great  assistance  to  parents  in  this  work, 
by  manifesting  an  interest  in  it?  153 

In  what  respect  is  catechetical  instruction  important  to  tjie 

church?  153 

In  what  estimate  was  it  held  by  the  reformers?  153-154 

Which  of  them  penned  catechisms  for  the  instruction  of  the 
people,  and  especially  of  the  young?  153-154 

What  mode  was  adopted  in  Scotland  to  secure  the  regular  and 
faithful  catechising  of  children?  154 

What  catechism  is  the  best  now  extant?  and  when  and  by 
whom  was  it  formed?  155 

Next  to  the  bible  will  not  the  study  of  this  catechism  be  likely 
to  prove  more  beneficial  to  our  children  than  almost  anything 
else?  155 

What  obligations  rest  on  the  private  members  of  the  church  to 
seek  the  spiritual  good  of  baptized  children?  155 

What  may  we  expect  to  follow  as  the  happy  result,  if  these  ob- 
ligations are  faithfully  met,  by  all  the  members  of  the  church?  156 

Which  is  the  more  important,  that  our  children  become  rich 
and  great,  or  that  they  become  pious?  156-157 

Ought  not  parents  to  feel  more  anxious  about  this  matter  than 

they  do?  156-157 

What  may  they  do  to  secure  the  salvation  of  their  children?  157 

Ought  baptized  children  to  regard  their  baptism  as  a  great  pri- 
vilege? 153 

Suppose  they  neglect  to  improve  this  privilege,  what  will  be 
the  consequence?  15S-159 


INDEX. 


PAGE. 

Adam,  the  church  commenced  with  him,    -        -        -        •        -        62 

Abraham,  covenant   with, 61,  62,  65 

Do.  beholding  Christ's  day, 69 

Do.  his  fathfulness  to  his  tamily,  .  .  -  .  146, 149 
Aaron  and  his  sons,  how  consecrated  to  their  office,  -  •  -  15 
Adult  baptism  not  to  be  administered  except  to  believers,  -  79, 113 
Do.  do.  seal  of  a  public  profession  of  religion,  -  -  125 
Apostles,  their  commission  to  preach  and  baptize,  -  -  -  79 
Do.  their  teaching  and  practice  under  it,  -  -  82,  85,  88,  91 
Assembly  at  Westminster,  the  excellent  catechism  prepared  by 

them, 155 

Babes,  salvation  of  those  dying  in  infancy,        -        -        -        -        76 
Baptize,  import  of  the   word,        ...-.-        33,  34 

Baptism,  what  is  essential  to  its  validity, 7 

Do.        not  a  saving  ordinance, 119 

Do.        design  of, 30,  35 

Do.        by  sprinkling  a  proper  mode, 7 

Do.        infants  proper  subjects, 59,  60 

Do.        to  be  administered  once  only  and  why,        -        -        134,  135 

Baptist,  John  probably  baptized  infants, 101 

Do.      do.     did  not  probably  immerse, 39 

Baptists  demand  positive  proof,    ~        - 59 

This  can  be  furnished  with  regard  to  infant  membership  which 

is  the  foundation  of  infant  baptism, 60 

Baptized  children,  their  relation  to  the  church,        ...        130 
Do.        do.        duties  and  privileges  of,        -        -        -        -        150 
Do.        do.        duties  of  parents,  ministers  and  churches  to- 
wards them, 146,  151,  152 

Bathing  in  water  required  of  the  Jews  as  a  preparation  for  the 
lite  of  sprinkling,  and  also  for  any  solemn  act  of  religious 

worship,   why, 40 

This  may  serve  to  explain  some  allusions  in  the  new  testament 
relating  to  baptism,        ...         .         .         .         -.41 

And  also  how  immersion  ever  came  to  be  practiced,         -         -         42 
Believer''s  baptism  held  to  and  practiced  by  pedo -baptists  as 

well  as  by  their  baptist  brethren, 113,114 

Benefits   of  infant  baptism, 127 

Bible,  duty  of  reading  and  teaching  it  to  our  children,        -        146,  149 
Blessings,  Christ's  bless'ng  little  children,  what  it  denoted,     -        75,  76 
16 


180 


PAGE. 

Blood  of  Christ  called  the  blood  of  sprinkling,  -  -  -  -  29 
bodies  washed  with  pure  water,  the  meaning  of,    -        -        -        43,  44 

Dorn  of  water,  what  meant  by  it, 120 

Branches,  the  natural  broken  off  and  those  wild  by  nature  grafi- 

ed  into  the  good  olive  tree, 70 

Buried   with   Christ  by   baptism, 45 

Catechetical  instruction,  duty  of, 153,  154- 

Calvin,  his  views  concerning  catechising,  ....  154 
Carthage,  council  of  relating  to  infant  baptism,  ...  no 
Ceremonial  law  did  not  annul  the  Abrahamic  covenant,  -  65,  66 
Ceremonial  cleansing,  how  usually  performed,  ...  28,29 
Charity  to  be  exercised  towards  those  who  dili'er  from  us,    -    4,  5,  56,  57 

Christ,  circumcised  in  his  infancy, 76 

Do.    never  afterwards  intimated  that  it  was  useless,        -        76,  79 
Do.    theretbre  baptism  not  useless  to  infants  now,    -        -        -        76 

Do.    the  design  of  his  baptism, 8,  9 

Do.     not  intended  as  an  example  to  us  yet  may  aid  us  in  de- 
termining the  proi>er  mode, -        8 

Children,  litttle  children  brought  to  Christ,     -        -        -        -        71,  72 
meaning  of  the  term   children  as  used  by  Peter  in  his 

discourse  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,        -         -         -         -         83 
baptized  children  members  of  the  church,     ...         130 
Church,  old  and  new  testament  church  the  same,         -         -         -         61 
duty  of  the  church  to  baptized   children,         ...         151 
Christian  dispensation,  did  not  abrogate  the  Abrahamic   cove- 
nant,       -- 66,  69 

Christian  baptism,  the  rite  not  first  instituted  by  Christ,  but 
adopted  and  perpetuated  by  him  from  the  old  testament  dis- 
pensation,         103 

Circumcision,  when  instituted, 61 

J)o.  what  a  sign  and   seal  of, 65 

Do           at  what  age  to  be  performed,         ....         144 
Do.          sinfulness    of   unnecessary  delay,         -         -         144,  145 
Do.          why  not  continued  under  the  new  testament  dis- 
pensation,       - 103 

Do.  gradually  superseded  and  displaced  by  baptism;       -      107 

Clemens  x\lexandrinus,  and  other  christian  fathers  on  baptismal 

regeneration,  (Note  p.  109,  110,) 109 

Colossians,  'no  evidence  of  their  being  immersed,        -        -        48,  49 

Coming  up  out  of  the  water, s        37 

Commission  of  the  Apostles,  import  of,  -----  79 
Congregation  of  Israel,  to  be  cut  off'  from,  (Note,)      -  -        145 

Conscience,  sprinkled  from  an  evil  one, 43 

Covenant,  Abraham  entering  into  covenant,         -         -         -         -         63 
Do.        a  bond   not  of  civil  but  ecclesiastical  union,  ever- 
lasting,          62 

Cuts  illustrating  christian  baptism,        -        -        -        11,  19,  25,  32,  90 
Cyprian,  council  in  his  time   concerning  the  baptism  of  infants 

prior  to  the  eighth  day   after   their  birth,         ....         HO 

Death,  baptized  into  Christ's  death,       .-..-.         49 
Disciple,  as  used  in  the  Apostolic   commission  [Gr.]  nearly  sy- 
nonymous with  proselyte,        -        -        -        -        -        -        -        81 

Dispensation,  gospel  dispensation  did  not  nuUil'y  the  Abrahamic 
covenant,        ...         --         ...         --66 


181 


PAGE. 

Dodridge,  baptismal  regeneration,   (Note,)        -        ™        .        109,  no 
Duties  arising  from  baptism,       -..-...         241 
Eighth  day,  why  circumcision  was  to  be  performed  on  that  day,     -     144 
Do.        how  long  it  might  be  delayed  with  impunity,  (Note)  143 

Do.        whatpunishment  was  threatened  for  neglect,  (Note)  145 

Do.        judgmentsent  upon  Moses,        ....        144,143 
Do.        after  what  age  a  child  could  not  be  circumcised  on 

the   faith   of  his   parents,    (Note,)         -         -         -         145 
Do.        how  far  this  should  be  an  example  to  us  with  refe- 
rence to  baptism,  (Note,) 146 

Eli,  consequences  of  not  restraining  his  sons,      -        -        -        149, 130 

Enon,  John  baptizing  in, -        -         39 

Engravings,  ancient  ones  illustrating  the  mode  of  baptism,  11, 19,25,  32 

Eunuch,   baptized   by   sprinkling, 21 

Examples  of  household  baptism, 88,  91 

Faith,   circumcision  a  sign  and  seal  of,         -----         65 
Do.    baptism  a  sign  and  seal  of  the  same,        -        -        -        -        65 

Family  worship,   duties   of, 146,  149 

Fidelity,  parental  rewarded        ..--...         249 
Do.      the  want  of  it  followed  by  Divine  judgments,       -        -        150 
French  churches  taught  and  expounded  Calvin's  catechism,         -         154 
Garments,  the  Jews  required  to  wash  or  change  them  as  a  pre- 
paration to  approach  God,  why, 40 

Gentile  proselytes,  circumcised   and  baptized,        -        -        -        98,  99 
Circumcision  laid  aside  and  baptism  continued   after  Christ's 

death,       - 103 

Gill,  Dr.  his  views  concerning  the  Jewish  Passover,  (Note,)        -        137 
God,   Abraham  entering  into  covenant  with        -        -        -        61,  63 

Going  down  into  the  water, 37 

Gospel  preached  to  Abraham, 69 

Gospel  dispensation,   the  carrying  to  their  completion  the  pro- 
mises of  the  Abrahamic  covenant,        -        69 
Do.  do.  how  its  ordinances  differ  from  those  of 

the  old  testament,  -  -  -  103,  104 
Gregory  Nazianzen,  his  testimony  concerning  proselyte  baptism,  100 
Greek,  we  can  arrive  at  tne  meaning  of  the  word  baptize  without 

a  knowledge  of  Greek, 34,  35 

Hammond,  Dr.  his   views  and  those  of  Selden  concerning  the 

origin  of  proselyte  baptism, 100 

Heathen,  their  conversion  prayed  for  on  the  ground  of  the  pro- 
mise contained  in  God's  covenant, 143 

Henry,  Philip,  his  manner  of  instrucjting  his  children,         -         -         150 
Do.      Matthew,  his  testimony  concerning  the  benefits  of  his 

infant  baptism, 137 

History  of  Proselyte  baptism, 98 

Holy,  import  of  the  term  when  it  relates  to  Jewish  ordinances,      -      87 

Do.    used  in  the  same  sense  by  Paul, 87 

Holy    Spirit,  baptism  of 30,  31 

Household  baptism,  instances  of 88,  91,  95 

Husband,  unbelieving  sanctified  by  the  believing  wife,         -         -        85 
Identity  of  the  old  and  new  testament  church,      -         -         -        -        61 
Immersion,   the  word  not  found  in  the  bible,        -        -        -        -        36 
Do.  cannot  be  proved  to  have  been  practiced  during  the 


182 


PAGE. 

Apostolic  a£;e,        -------56 

Do.  if  it  could  be  this  would  not  establish  immersion  as 

the  only  proper  and  valid  mode,        -        -        -        -        54 

Do.           how  the  practice  of  immersion  was  probably  intro- 
duced,       42 

Importance  of  baptism, -119 

Intant    church-membership  proved,        -        -        -  61,72,111 

Infant  baptism,  proof  oi', 59 

Christ  and  John  Baptist  baptized  infants,        -        101,  102 

Do.        do.     importance  of, 119 

Do.        do.     with  what  frame  of  mind  it  ought  to  be  per- 
formed, -  -  .....        146 
Do.        do.     should  be   attended  to  promptly,        ...        145 

Infant  salvation,  our  belief  in 76 

Do.         do.        its  bearing  on  the  doctrine  of  infant  baptism,       76,  128 
Inferential  proof  sufficient  to  establish  any  doctrine  or  duty,        -        60 
Do.  do.    regarded  by  christians  as  conclusive  when  ap- 

plied to  the  ciiristian  Sabbath,  -  -  -  59 
Ireneus,  his  testimony  concerning  infant  baptism,  ...  109 
Isaiah,  prophecy  of  explained  by  Philip,  -  -  -  17,  18,  19 
Israelites,  baptism  of  in  the  cloud  and  in  the  sea,        -        -        -        25 

Jailor,   baptism  of  and  his  household, 91 

Do.     he  only  was  a  believer, 92-95 

Jews,  their  familiar  acquaintance  with  the  holy  scriptures,  -  130 
Jewish  purifications  usually  performed  by  sprinkling,  -  -  28,  29 
Jewish  christians  practiced  circumcision  by  the  sanction  of  the 

Apostles, 105 

but  Gentile  believers  were  excused  from  it,      -       105 
the  bearing  of  these  facts  on  the  subject  of  in- 
fant baptism. 106 

Jerusalem,  council  at  with  reference  to  circumcision  among 

Gentile  believers, 104 

Joel,  prophecy  of  quoted  by  Peter, 82 

John  the  Baptist,  how  he  baptized, 39 

Do.  do.  his  baptism  not  introduced  as  a  new  thing,  -  97 
Di).  do.  probably  baptized  infants,  ....  joi 
Do.        do.        but  not  christian  baptism,  (Note,)     ...        102 

Jordan,  baptizing  in 39 

Josephus,  his  testimony  concerning  baptism  among  the  ancient 

Jews, 93 

the  practice  very  common  among  them  before  Christ's 

advent, 97,  98 

Justin  Martyr,  concerning  circumcision  and  baptism,  -  -  109 
Kingdonr  of  heaven  and  kingdom  of  God,  meaning  of  -  73,  74 
Kingdom  taken  from  the  Jews  and  given  to  the  Gentiles,  -  -  73 
Little  children,  those  brought  to  Christ  were  small,  ...  72 
Do.        do.       for  wliat  purpose  brought  to  him,        -        -        -        74 

Lord's  supper,  qualifications  for, 136 

Luther,  his  views  concerning  catechising,        ...        153^  154 

Lydia  and  her  household  baptized, 88 

she    alone   had   faith,         - 91 

IMaiinonides.  a  learned  Jew,  quoted  by  Dr.  Wall  with  regard  to 
proselyte  baptism, 98 


133 


183 


Many  nations,  Christ's  sprinkling  them,  .  •  -  .  .  2 1 
Ministers  of  the  Gospel,  their  duty  to  baptized  children,  -  152  133 
Minors,  baptized  cliildren  are  such  with  regard  to  church  privi-        ' 

leges, 

and  also  to  church  discipline,  which  is  to  be  parental 

rather  than  judicial, 151   150 

Mode  of  baptism,  sprinkling  or  pouring  more  scriptural  than       ' 

immersion,         - 

Moses,  baptism  of  the  Israelites  to  him'in  the  cloud  and  sea,  -"  27 
Much  water,  why  resorted  to  by  John  for  baptizing,  -  -  -  39 
Naaman  dipping  himself  seven  times  in  Jordan,        -        -        -        36 

Obligations  involved  in  our  baptism, 125 

Officers  of  the  church,  their  duty  to  baptized  children,  -  151,  152 
^,.  ,       1       ,  ^"^  ^^  christian  parents,         -       '  151 

Ulive  tree,  the  church  represented  under  the  figure  of        -        -        70 
Do.   do     Jews  cut  off  and  believing  Gentiles  graffed  in,        -        70 
One  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism,        -  -        -        -        -        42 

Ordinances  of  the  new  testament,  only  two,  and  how  they  stand 

related  to  each  other, 134   135 

Origen,  his  testimony  concerning  infant  baptism,  -  -  -  '  110 
1  arents,  their  duty  to  their  children  both  with  regard  to  their 

baptism  and  religious  training,        -        -        .        144-147 
parents  who  have  been  baptized  but  have  not  come  to 
the  Lord's  supper,  how  to  be  treated  if  they  request 
baptism  for  their  children,        ....        139-141 
Passover,  what  qualifications  were  requisite  in  order  to  partake 

of  it,  (Note,) 136 

how  old  persons  were  required  to  be,        -        -        -        137 

what  character  must  be  possessed,       ....        137 

Pastors,  their  care  for  the  lambs  of  the  flock,        -        -        -        152 

Paul  was  baptized  in  the  house, 22 

how  he  taught  and  practiced  with  regard  to  the  baptism  of 

children, 85  91 

Pentecost,  baptism  of  three  thousand, '22 

Peter,  what  language  he  employed  concemingchildren,  -  -  82 
Pharisees,  baptism  not  regarded  by  them  as  a  new  thing  in  our 

baviour's   time, gj 

Philip  preaching  to  the  eunuch,  and  baptizing  him  by  sprinklinfy,  -  17 
Phrases  relating  to  baptism,   explanation  of        -        .        37,°39,  42,  45 

Pouring  a  proper  mode  of  baptism, 29 

Practice  of  the  Apostles, 88,  108 

and  of  the   church  immediately  afterwards,        -        I09',  110 

Prayer,   duty  of  for  baptized  children, 146 

Priests,  how  set  apart  to  their  office, 14,15 

Prison,  the  jailor  baptized   in   the   outer   court  of        -         -         -      '  23 

Profession  of   religion,   the   duty  of,  and   baptism  a  seal  of,         125,  126 

Promise   of  Abrahamic   covenant   confirmed  in  christ,        -         -         69 

fulfilled  in  part  by  the  introduction  of  the  gospel  dis- 

ensation, 61 

made  to  believers  and  their  children,      -         ...        84 
Proof  posinve  for  infant  church  membership,        ....        60 

Prophecy  of  Isaiah  explained  by  Philip, 17 

Do.       of  Joel  referred  to  by  Peter, 82 


184 


PAGE. 

Proselytes,  history  of  proselyte  baptism, 96 

Proseuche  a  place  of  prayer,  Paul  preached  there  to  Lydia  and 
o'hers, 24, 88 

Purilications,  Jewish  performed  by  sprinkling,  -  -  -  28, 29 
Recapitulation  of  the  arguments  for  infant  baptism,        -        -        111 

what  must  be  proved  in  order  to  overthrow  them,  -  -  114 
Regeneration,  baptismal  not  scriptural,        ....        119-124 

Religious  instruction,  duty  of        -        - 129 

Remission  of  sins,  not  conferred  by  baptism,  -  -  -  121,122 
Repentance  and  faith  connected  with  forgiveness  of  sins,  -  121 
Ressurrection  of  Christ,  how  associated  with  our  baptism  into 

his   death,         •         -         - 53 

Righteousness,  what  righteousness  Christ  fulfilled  by  his  bap- 
tism,        -         -         - 9 

River  side,  why  Paul  went  there  to  preach,  -  -  -  23,  24 
Roman  ciiristians,  no  proof  of  their  being  immersed,  -  46,  49 
fcjabbath  christian,  the  authority  of  established  conclusively  by 

inferrcntiul  reasoning, 59 

Samuel,  his  early  dedication  to  God  and  its  benefits,        -        -         129 

having  ordinance,  no  external   ordinance  saving  in  itself,        -        123 

how  rendered  saving,        ....        137 

Saviour,  baptism  of  not  by  immersion  but  sprinkling,        -        -        8 

Do.  design  of  his  baptism,  -  -  ....  9 
Scriptures,  duty  of  reading  them  to  our  families,  ...  146 
Scotland,  church  of  her  care  in  catechising  the  children  of  the 

church,         .....         154 

Sea,  baptism  of  the  Israelites  in, 25 

Seal  and  sign,  what  are  the  sacraments  signs   and  seals  of,        -        134 
Seed,  meaning  of  the  term  in  the  Abrahamic  covenant,        -        84 
the  same  is  meant   by  children  in  Peter's  sermon,         -        83,  84 
Selden,   see   Hammond,   their  views  concerning  the  origin  of 

among  the  Jews,         -         - 100 

Simon  Magus  baptized  without  becoming  a  true  christian,  -  122 
Sinai  covenant,  did  not  abrogate  the  covenant  made  with  Abra- 

^  ham,         -    ' 65,  66 

Shorter  catechism,  study  of 155 

Spirit  H')ly,  effusion  of 30 

Do.      do.     baptism  of, 31 

Sprinkling,   a  proper  mode  of  baptism, 7 

Do.  the  usual  mode  ol  performing  religious  purifications 

among  the  Jews,         ------        29 

Subjects,  infants  proper  subjects  of  baptism,        -        -        -        -        59 

Supper,  duty  of  baptized  persons  lo  partake  of  the  Lord's  supper,     -     150 
yet  they  are  not  to  come  without  previous  preparation,        136 
Talmud,  Jewish  concerning  proselyte  baptism,         -        -        -        98 
Teach,   meaning  of  in  the   Apostolic  commission  where  two 

Greek   words   are   so  rendered, 81 

Unclean,  meanina:  of  tl:e  term  as  used  in  scripture,        -        -  67 

V/all,   Dr.   his  History  of  Infant  Baptism,        -        -        -        -        98 

Washing   ot  regeneration,   import  of 120 

Water,  bodies  washed  with,  what  meant  by  it,        -        -        -        43,  44 

Went  down   into   the   water, 37 

Wife,   unbelieving  sanctified  by  believing  husband,         -        -        85 


185 


Worship,  (liUy  of  family  worship,        - 149 

Young  children  belong  to  Christ's   kingdom,         -        -        -        -         71 
Do.        do.        training  up  in   the  nurture  and  admonition  of 

the   Lord,         -        -        .        .         ...        J45 
Zaccheus  and  his  household  restored  by  Christ  to  their  former 
church  privileges,         -         -         -         --         -  --93 


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